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Hillary Clinton attempts to declaw 'Saturday Night Live'

Kate McKinnon, left, portrays Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, portrays Val, appear during the “Bar Talk” sketch on “Saturday Night Live.” Most political candidates play themselves on “SNL,” often for just a cameo in a sketch or to declare the show’s famous tag line, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” Seldom do they play a character in a sketch, as did Clinton.

It’s fair to say that the Obama era has not been great for the politically minded comedians at “Saturday Night Live.” Once considered among the strongest parts of the show, the writers either haven’t been interested in really hitting the first African-American president whose agenda they agree with wholeheartedly or they simply aren’t up to the task of making fun of the slick-speaking smoothie.

“SNL” writer Jim Downey - one of the few uncloseted conservatives to work on the show, who has been denounced by former cast member Horatio Sanz as “the Karl Rove of ‘SNL’” - suggests both factors may have played a role in the show’s inability to lay a glove on the sitting president. “If I had to describe Obama as a comedy project, I would say, ‘Degree of difficulty, 10 point 10,’” he said in an oral history of the show. “It’s like being a rock climber looking up at a thousand-foot-high face of solid obsidian, polished and oiled. There’s not a single thing to grab onto.”

It’s a real gift for the venerable sketch comedy program, then, that Hillary Clinton is back in the national spotlight. SNL has been mining comedy gold from the Democratic frontrunner for over 20 years now. Who can forget Jan Hooks’ take on the domineering, overbearing first lady?

Hooks nailed the public perception that Hillary was set on emasculating Bill (“I happen to be the co-president of the United States” Hooks’ Hillary spits as Phil Hartman’s Bill looks on sheepishly). It also mocks her inability to comprehend the incredible unpopularity of the more audacious points of Hillarycare, the Clintons’ failed healthcare reform package that defined the president’s first two years in office and ushered in the Republican Revolution of 1994.

Ana Gasteyer’s portrayal was similarly hilarious, lampooning not only her desire for power but also her husband’s predilection for messing around.

Amy Poehler’s impression of Hillary Clinton is the one stumble: It was clear that Poehler respected the former first lady too much to throw any sharp elbows. Still, the bitter Democratic primary of 2008 provided enough fodder for a few funny skits.

Kate McKinnon is the latest, and greatest, actress to take on Hillary for “SNL.” Her impression of the former first lady, former senator, former secretary of state and seemingly perpetual presidential candidate is something to behold:

“CITIZENS: YOU WILL ELECT ME AND I WILL BE YOUR LEADER,” McKinnon yells wide-eyed into a cell phone camera whilst trying to add a human touch to her campaign kickoff. It’s a perfect piece of political satire. McKinnon heightens the candidate’s natural creepiness to comedic levels while touching on an uncomfortable truth, one we’ve seen on the show since Hooks’ take on Clinton: She believes she deserves to lead us, that we need her guidance and wisdom.

McKinnon’s Hillary skits are the closest the show has come to virality since Andy Samberg left and took his “Digital Shorts” with him. The portrayal is devastating in its effectiveness, earning Hillary harsh headlines in otherwise sympathetic outlets like The Daily Beast and Slate, while defining her in a negative way to the readers of generally apolitical outlets like Entertainment Weekly.

So it’s no wonder that the Clinton camp is trying to nip this thing in the bud. There’s a reason she appeared on the season premiere of the show this weekend, and it’s not because she’s “spontaneous” and “fun,” as her handlers told the New York Times she was oh-so-spontaneously planning on becoming. It’s because comedians have a harder time lampooning those who they have met, especially when they respect the person in question. I mean, just watch this skit:

As The Daily Beast’s Kevin Fallon put it, “Live From New York ... it’s a Hillary Clinton campaign ad.” It’s certainly that-an opportunity for Hillary to “humanize” herself whilst also informing people of her stances on the issues-but it’s not just that. It’s a strategic play to remove the Hillary arrow from “SNL’s” quiver.

Consider how Fallon reacted to the skit. “Clinton looked totally gassed to be there, and remarkably at ease. Her line readings were natural, especially for someone so often accused of being robotic,” Fallon wrote. “It’s hard to mock Hillary Clinton, as her personality isn’t exactly larger than life.”

Now, as we’ve seen, the idea that “it’s hard to mock Hillary” is laughable: “SNL” has quite capably been mocking Hillary Clinton for much of my life. But the Clinton campaign certainly hopes the idea that Hillary, like Barack Obama, is hard to mock will now start to circulate. We will be told that she has a good sense of humor about herself and that she is so personable and that it’s really not fair - sexist even, maybe - to portray her as a grasping, robotic, striving, narcissist who believes in nothing but her own ability to rule.

Will McKinnon and the “SNL” staff lay off Hillary going forward? I hope not - as we’ve seen over the last quarter-century, there’s a rich vein of comedy to be mined here. But I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s hard enough to make fun of someone you respect. It’s almost impossible to lay into them when you’ve met them and you know they’re watching.



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