Predicting SNL

It's gotten to the point that one of our first thoughts after a debate is to wonder how Saturday Night Live will parody it. Conservative Rames Ponnuru thinks that Tina Fey will have her work cut out for her. I think that Tom Shales has more of a handle on what SNL will do. She'll sprinkle in as many folksy you betcha's and gosh darn it's as she can along with a whole bunch of references to Main Street. For each question, they'll have her ignore whatever the question is and switching to talk about energy or taxes. She'll seem adorable but evasive and shallow. There won't be any indication that she held her own going against a guy who has been doing debates and talk shows and ran for the presidency twice.

The portrayal of Joe Biden will show him answering with a lot of facts and figures and looking boring and wonkish. Maybe they'll add in a few references to himself in the third person and his anecdotes about talking to Joey at the gas station and his pals at Home Depot. Oh, and lots of McCain/Bush lines.