When a Senate candidate makes a political ad featuring words never uttered before in a television commercial, there’s the clear upside that it will be shown for free on an endless loop on cable news, maximizing fundraising and exposure. Then there’s the downside (which Christine O’Donnell has experienced since telling Delaware voters in her first ad, “I’m not a witch”): sharp mockery.
In the latest parody over the weekend, Saturday Night Live spoofed the O’Donnell ad, with the show’s Kristen Wiig speaking just like the Republican Senate candidate directly to the camera about being elected to the “human Senate.”
Playing off O’Donnell’s “I’m you” tagline, SNL’s spoof included the line, “Just like you I have to constantly deny that I’m a witch,” and a promise that if elected she’d do the people’s business, and “not spells.”
Wiig deadpanned, “If I were a witch why wouldn’t I just cast a spell making all of you forget that I’m a witch.”
The ad also made the rounds on late-night comedy shows last week, with David Letterman doctoring it with satanic fire. Amateur parodies have gotten national play. Others said the blue screen behind O’Donnell resembles cauldron smoke, and even news anchors giggled that she’s dressed in all black.
(SNL also used the season opener to ridicule O’Donnell. Watch that clip here.)
Watch SNL:
And here’s Letterman’s spoof. It starts 4 minutes into the clip:
Our coverage of this race is here.