Top 10 SNL Political Impressions

From the early days in 1975 when the show debuted, Saturday Night Live has been known for irreverent impressions of politicians and political candidates. Whoever is in the Oval office as the sitting President in particular.

When the show was preparing to air for the first time, there was a competing show on ABC, Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell. Reportedly, the producers of SNL considered calling their show Saturday Night Live Without Howard Cosell, which would have been in keeping with their now famous image. Of course, the show with the acerbic, nasal Cosell, better known for Monday Night Football on ABC, long since bit the dust lasting only one season , I believe. Saturday Night Live still rolls along, older than many of the current cast.

Ratings are up to levels not seen since the mid-90’s, I suppose to see Tina Fey do her winking, mugging impression of Sarah Palin. Here are my 10 favorite SNL political impressions, in no particular order, as they are are so well done, ranking them would be very difficult.

Phil Hartman/Bill Clinton

Before Darrell Hammond joined the SNL cast in 1995, the late Phil Hartman did a fine job of impersonating the 42nd President. Highlights were the skit during Clinton’s first run for President in 1992 in which Hartman/Clinton jogged into a McDonald’s somewhere and wound up eating off of most of the patrons’ trays. In between bites of fries while carrying on wonkish discussions of several various policies, Hartman’s Clinton won voters over on the spot. In another skit, an Arkansas state trooper pulled an attractive woman over and introduced her to the then-Governor. As the two sit in the police car, the two disappear and viewers can hear Clinton croak: “I feel your pain!”.

Darrell Hammond/Bill Clinton

Even though Phil Hartman may have looked a little more like Bill Clinton, Darrell Hammond with his southern background conveys the spirit of the man more than any impressionists that I have seen. The lip-biting, the crooked finger jabbing, the gesture with the left thumb, the voice that always sounds in need of a rest, Hammond does it all about as well as the real Bill Clinton.

Dana Carvey/George H.W. Bush

With the shrill catchphrase “notgunduit”, Dana Carvey captured the essence of the man whose voice has been described as Liberace trying to do an impersonation of John Wayne. Daddy Bush, forever fighting a losing battle with his image as a wimpy, patrician preppy, never seemed to know what to do with his hands while speaking, jabbing at the air erratically, and Carvey had that feature down pat. The highlight of Carvey/Bush was the SNL primetime show in ’92 when Carvey did both Bush and Ross Perot in the Presidential debate.

Dana Carvey/Ross Perot

Some may have forgotten, but third party candidate Perot received 19% of the vote in ’92 and actually led Bush and Bill Clinton in the polls in mid-summer. Ross Perot, the twangy voiced, pint-sized Texan with the big ears, had a personal thing with Daddy Bush and Carvey picked up on it deftly. Perot was known for downhome phrases like “now, Larry” as Perot would begin nearly every sentence, (speaking on Larry King Live) “we’ve got ta roll up our sleeves and clean out tha barn!” The highlight of Carvey’s take on Ross Perot was the skit in which Perot took his running mate James Stockdale (Phil Hartman) out for a Sunday drive. After getting way out “in the sticks” Perot tells the retired Admiral his performance was “world class!”, one of Perot’s favorite phrases, and attempted to coax Stockdale out of the car so he could abandon him after Stockdale’s miserable, crotchetty performance in the VP debates.

Darrell Hammond/Al Gore

The sighing during the debate with George W. Bush. The sort of overbearing condescension of “I’m smarter than you” attitude some people feel Gore exudes. The “lock-box” comment Gore made in one of the debates. Darrell Hammond had it down, making “lockbox” a catchphrase there for awhile. Some who know Gore personally, say he is relaxed, funny and charming in private, but Gore has never been able to convey that in public. If he could, he’d probably be finishing his 2nd term as we speak.

Will Ferrell/George W. Bush

The squint, the cocky, macho strut, the smirk, Ferrell could overcome his lack of resemblance to Bush by those moves. In one SNL skit, Ferrell squints, turns to the camera and when asked how he will win utters; “strategery”. Vintage Dubya.

Phil Hartman/Ted Kennedy

In a 1988 SNL skit during the infamous Clarence Thomas hearings before the U.S. Senate as a nominee for the Supreme Court Phil Hartman was Ted Kennedy. Thomas, had been accused by law professor Anita Hill of discussing a porno movie called “Long-Dong Silver” in her presence and asking her if a pubic hair on his coke can belonged to her. Hill said she had been sexually harrassed by Thomas and he was not qualified for the position. Tim Meadows as Thomas was questioned by Hartman as Kennedy if he had ever used the “old trick of inviting a woman up to his hotel room and going to the door naked”, claiming to have just gotten out of the shower. Funny stuff.

Darrell Hammond/Dan Rather

Yeah, Dan Rather has never held public office, so theoretically, the former CBS news anchor is not a politician. However, Dan Rather is, or “rather” was, a political figure until the Dubya National Guard story blew up in 2004. Darrell Hammond’s send up of Dan Rather following the 2000 election was classic. For those who watched CBS on election night that year surely remember Rather’s downhome, good ol’ boy homilies that night. “Gore’s lead is shakier than cafeteria jello” was one such utterance. The highlight of Darrell Hammond’s impression was the quip about Ted Kennedy, something about Kennedy in a “whorehouse with a full bar”.

Fred Armisen/Barack Obama

The halting, hesitant, uh, well, er patterns that mark Barack Obama’s interviews are captured well by Armisen. The way Obama often emphasizes the last word of a sentence are there as well. He may run the last few words preceding the last word together. Example: in the most recent debate Obama turning to the moderator Bob Schieffer and saying something like “and uh, Bob, uh, that’s er, whatwewant to DO! While it may not be PC to have a person of another race impersonating a black man to some, Armisen has several different nationality mixes himself, like Barack Obama. I don’t recall any complaints when Fred Armisen was doing Prince on SNL earlier.

Finally, no SNL list of the best political impersonations would be accurate without the most recent development. Not Darrell Hammond’s John McCain impersonation, though “that one” is well done also. I’m referring of course to:

Tina Fey/Sarah Palin

From the first time I ever saw Sarah Palin on TV, my first thought was: she looks just like Tina Fey! After Fey’s first appearance as Palin on the SNL season premier, it was obvious that as much as Fey resembles Palin to the eye, she sounds and acts just as much like the moose-hunting, expense-account-padding “hockey Mom” from the Great White North. Was Wasilla, AK the setting of the TV show Northern Exposure? Anyway, the highlight of Tina Fey‘s Sarah Palin was after the Vice Presidential debate when Fey/Palin completely ignored the modersator’s (Queen Latifah as Gwen Ifill) questions and winked and mugged shamelessly to the cameras. The Fargo-esque, clipped accent was honed by Fey to perfection.

Honorable mentions: Dan Aykroyd/Jimmy Carter, Aykroyd as Richard Nixon and Aykroyd again as Bob Dole and Jon Lovitz/Michael Dukakis.

Lovitz as Dukakis in 1988 was debating Dana Carvey’s George H.W. Bush. After the moderator kept having to tell Bush that he had not used up all his alloted time, after hemming and hawing a mish-mash of “a thousand points of light, stay the course, read my lips, a thousand points of light”, Lovitz as Dukakis’ only response was “I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy” as viewers can hear some sort of mechanical device raising the podium.

Also, Will Ferrell as Janet Reno was very well done with an appearance by the real Janet Reno in one episode. John Goodman as Monica Lewinsky foil Linda Tripp was hilarious in Goodman’s guest appearances.