Larry David did a great Bernie Sanders impression on SNL. Will it win voters?
Larry David played Bernie Sanders opening segment, and . At least that seemed the consensus on social media. The white-haired, Brooklyn-born comedian looks like the white-haired, Brooklyn-born politician. He sounds like him. He waves his hands like him. He even has the same kind of name: two syllables fore and aft, with a last name that could serve as the first in a pinch.
Plus, NBC's聽SNL writers did a great job pushing Senator Sanders鈥檚 characteristic rhetoric over the top into the realm of comedy. The setting was, of course, the Democratic debate, with actors for all participants. Asked for an opening statement, the Larry David version of Sanders went right for it.
鈥淚鈥檓 gonna dial it right up to a 10,鈥� Mr. David said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doomed! We need a revolution! Millions of people in the streets, and we gotta do something, and we gotta do it now!鈥�
Asked to state his feelings about big banks, David-Sanders started with pens.
鈥淲hy do they chain all their pens to the desk? Who鈥檚 trying to steal a pen from a bank?鈥� said the comedian.
Then he added that the banks should be broken up into little pieces and flushed, and bankers should be made to pay for free college for everyone.
The SNL skit contained some actual debate events. 鈥淏ernie鈥� opined that everybody is sick of Hillary Clinton鈥檚 e-mail controversy, as the real Sanders really did. Of course, someone has already comparing the two moments.
鈥淗illary鈥� complained that Sanders鈥檚 policies are too expensive and would need a golden goose for funding. In the actual debate, Mrs. Clinton said Sanders鈥檚 plans would never pass congressional muster.
The SNL 鈥淪anders鈥� took the golden goose comment off in a totally fictional direction, however. Larry David said 鈥淚 can find the goose! I鈥檝e found geese before and I can do it again. They congregate near ponds.鈥�
So here鈥檚 the question: Is it good for Sanders to get this full SNL treatment? They鈥檙e making fun of him, after all. He鈥檚 depicted as a wild-haired crazy uncle. At the end, Larry David has 鈥淪anders鈥� saying that next November he鈥檒l be Hillary Clinton鈥檚 VP, not president.
Such satire can be woundingly brutal. Ask Jim Webb. His SNL doppelganger Alec Baldwin gave a devastating portrait of a tough guy who鈥檚 actually ducking hard questions about why he鈥檚 a Democrat.
Today that he liked the portrayal, and that he owns plenty of clean underwear 鈥� not just one pair, as Larry David鈥檚 鈥淪anders鈥� claimed.
But on the whole we鈥檇 say the portrayal is going to help Sanders. For one, SNL treated Larry David as the star of the skit. Did you notice that David comes on stage last, after the Hillary Clinton character? Throughout 鈥淐linton鈥� is portrayed as somebody reacting to and working off of 鈥淪anders."
That鈥檚 a minor point. The major one is that Sanders will get tons of after-debate comment from 鈥渉is鈥� SNL appearance. And as we鈥檝e noted, winning the after-debate coverage is as important, if not more so, than winning the debate itself.
This continued attention could combine with Sanders鈥檚 actual debate performance to make mid-October a turning point for the Sanders campaign. He is still very unlikely to win the actual nomination, as he has yet to translate his strength with white liberals into a broader party constituency. finds a plurality of those who watched the debate think Clinton won. That same survey shows that Sanders is the candidate who鈥檚 received a debate bump, however. He鈥檚 up five points to 29 percent since mid-September.
鈥淣o other candidate showed significant change,鈥� according to CNN鈥檚 polling director Jennifer Agiesta.
