Political satire is something that has always influenced politics.  It has been especially prevalent in the current election between presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and Vice Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. The popular late night television show, Saturday Night live, has been on extremely focused on creating satire based on the recent debates.

One of the shows most funny and relevant skit was based on the vice presidential debate. While viewers must realize that these skits are created mainly for entertainment purposes there is some truth that can be taken from them. The skit about the VP debate was not only hysterical but it also helped to raise some great points about the debate. During the skit Tina Fey (Sarah Palin) blatantly avoided the questions she was asked by Queen Latifah (Gwen Ifel).              While Tina Fey’s depiction was a gross exaggeration there was some truth to what she was doing. Sarah Palin did seem to avoid many of the questions she was asked during the debate. It seemed as if she would only answers the questions that she wanted to answer. Another good point that Tina Fey called attention to was the fact that Sarah Palin would in some way or another bring up topics that she was knowledgeable in and made her look better.

The skit also brought out some of the gaffes that Biden had during the debate. During the debate Joe Biden kept referring to John McCain as one of his good friends but still calling him out for being a poor leader. During the skit Jason Sudeikis (Joe Biden) often refers to the strong friendship he and McCain have but at the same time he speaks about how mentally unstable John McCain is. Sudeikis exaggerates this point by continuously bringing up the extremely strong feelings and admiration that Biden has for McCain but always countering it with a dig to McCain’s mental stability.

The skit also focuses on how each candidate addressed the issue of gay marriage. During the debate Joe Biden made it seem as if his administration was supportive of gay marriage by speaking about all the rights that gay couples should have. During the skit Sudeikis spends a considerable amount of time talking about how he supports gay rights but when asked about whether or not he supported gay marriage he responds with, “absolutely not.” Tina Fey addressed the issue that Sarah Palin talked about the fact that she simply “tolerated” gay people. Tina Fey says that she “ tolerates gay people with all her heart.” This makes fun of the fact that Sarah Palin insulted gay people during the debate.

The Saturday Night skits are obviously an extreme exaggeration. People should not take what is said during these skits seriously and should not base their political beliefs based on the opinions of the actors in Saturday Night Live. There is, however, some truth that should be taken from these skits. These skits are a great entertainment value and help make politics fun but the skits also have some sense of truthfulness.