Palin on SNL? Not Without Preconditions!

An Open Letter to the Producers at Saturday Night Live

Rumors that Gov. Sarah Palin is planning to appear on Saturday Night Live are gaining traction in the mediasphere. Nevertheless, a representative of the show told me that "reports of a Sarah Palin/SNL booking are unconfirmed" but added: "That said, 'Saturday Night Live' maintains an open door policy for all of the candidates to appear."

Okay, it's still only a rumor, but Palin has said she wants to be on the show and you have an open door policy. That's not a "No."

Why does Sarah Palin want to be on the show?

It's no secret. Saturday Night Live is a showcase for celebrities. It is fabulously popular show, and it offers its hosts a lot of cred. Palin wants to appear on the show, obviously, to boost her image, to make her look like someone who has a sense of humor -- a wonderful person who can take a joke... and a star. But in truth, it would be a nationally televised campaign appearance scheduled right before people will be marking their ballots.

Here's my issue. Should Sarah Palin be treated like a star? She's a candidate for our country's second highest office, true. But how has she earned the right to call the shots -- to be on a show like yours -- when she is apparently not even able to hold a single press conference? Shouldn't a legitimate candidate for such a prestigious office at least level with us about who she is -- give us an opportunity to judge whether she's capable and worthy of our trust or just a poser?

This is a woman who is leading a tour of heated increasingly ugly political rallies asking the insinuating question "Who is Barack Obama?" and linking the United States senator to terrorism through his ties to William Ayers. Never mind that the Ayers story has been debunked every which way. Palin's "fans" do not get it. They don't want to get it. So there's Palin inciting crowds into calling him a terrorist and a socialist, and in some cases, yelling out "Kill him," and apparently enjoying every minute of it. It doesn't get much worse than that.

But while she wrongly accuses Obama of "pallin' around with terrorists," neither her ignorance nor her own dirty laundry is being exposed. She has not answered to the American people. Her appearances are heavily managed. Her cloistered campaign has given the press unprecedentedly little true access to interview her on behalf of the American voters. Saturday Night Live should be asking along with the rest of us: "Who is Sarah Palin?"

Palin complains about being annoyed by interview questions she can't answer and calls fairly straightforward sit down interviews "gotcha journalism," as if it wasn't fair to ask a hockey mom who is running for the second highest office in this country a question of substance (or even "What newspapers and magazines do you read?"). Apparently, it's not fair to require her to demonstrate her readiness for the office. Should this person be rewarded with a "star turn" on your show, which for all its satirical power is still a forum for entertainers. This is gaming the system. Palin can shrug off whatever happens on the show as mere showbiz, play it to the hilt as free publicity, revel in it as a national media appearance without a downside. How much will you allow our political process to be manipulated? To some of us, it's not a game or a game show.

While our economy, and with it the world's economy, are sinking and screaming for help and leadership, while we are at war in two countries and international tensions are of serious concern, while our environment is in real danger, and real people are losing their jobs and their homes, all Gov. Palin can do is attack Barack Obama. She has answered none of the important questions about her own knowledge of the Constitution or economics or foreign policy. She has not held forth in any substantive way on the kind of solutions she intends to propose and how she goes about formulating those solutions, according to what resources and lines of thought. Nor, as she happily casts stones at Obama, has she addressed her own questionable associations and dealings.

I sincerely request the producers at Saturday Night Live consider whether Sarah Palin deserves the imprimatur of your respected show, or, at the very least, that you require something of this candidate before she is allowed to take advantage of your reputation.

If you are seriously considering putting this woman on the air before America votes, I'd ask you to require that she conduct an open and lengthy press conference. It should feature a fair sampling of unbiased reporters (if such can be found) -- or at least reporters from different sides of the cultural divide -- without preconditions. Any question is fair game, including follow-ups.

Why not do it on the show? Require her to answer questions -- real questions -- on the Saturday Night Live stage. As the cost for her star turn, make her reveal what she knows and what she believes in an unscripted question-and-answer session with real people asking real questions. Hold her accountable. Don't toss pillows and let her answer with talking points. For American voters, it would present, at last, a live, televised, unscripted Palin -- an edgy and sure to be riveting "skit" that would generate material for untold numbers of subsequent episodes. It would be a ratings bonanza!

Please don't let Sarah Palin promote herself without first representing herself seriously as a candidate. If she is too cowardly to face the nation -- to reveal herself as fully as the other candidates have done -- then she should drop out of the race.

PALIN ON SNL? NOT WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS!

Comments

[stormwatcher59]

Ever since I heard the possibility Sarah Palin might be on SNL, it has bothered me in a weird way . I have been unable to define it, even to myself. The feeling pestered me enough to look around the net for signs that I was not alone. Thank you for being here.

[adgfo]

I agree with the article, if she can't Give an enterview for meet the press or other political news programs . Then why should she be alowed to go on saturday night live. Im truly thinking of not watching the show tonight.

[Auntmisbehaving]

If Palin won't appear on Meet the Press and Face the Nation, she should not be allowed on SNL!!!

[adgfo]

I agree!!!!

[LJQ]

I WILL NOT be watching..

[Winstir]

I don't expect my boycotting SNL on Saturday night to make one whit of a difference to anyone.

Except me.

SNL has every right to have her on the show However, I find the idea of giving her one more grand opportunity to do what she's insisted on doing almost exclusively throughout this election repellent. And, that is -- as Bill Maher said -- read zingers off a teleprompter, which, yup, she does well.

This is an election, not a casting call, and SNL's choice renders it another media outlet to be manipulated by her.

[Auntmisbehaving]

Exactly! I think it's a very cynical move to put Palin on OUR show. She has dissed us all! She thinks you're going to hell if you voted for Kerry, for gosh sakes! How can they even contemplate this.

[suemag]

Send an email to SNL like I did and protest having Palin on the show-http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us (Choose SNL in the drop-down)
I also said if they do put her on that Obama or Biden should be on the Saturday before the election. Putting Palin on SNL gives her too much credibility, which she doesn't deserve.

[LiberalMillionaire]

Putting Palin on SNL will give her VISIBLITY not credibility. (See bellow MurrayAbraham's excellent argument.)

[rextrek]

while I love SNL - I will NOT watch in protest IF she is on it that night.

[LiberalMillionaire]

WOW. X million viewers minus ... 1!

I am sure your threat NOT watching the show will have the producers on their toes.

[MurrayAbraham]

Are you so unsure of the Obama/Biden ticket to deny Palin access to SNL? The mission of SNL is to be funny, not to take sides in the political debate.

At some point I almost come to agree with conservative columnists who chastise liberals as whiners.

[sophiej]

good point, but she is a joke, isn't she?
Does anyone doubt that the recent vicious and racist outbursts at McCain-Palin appearances were instigated by the campaign?

[Rusel deMaria - Huffpost Blogger]

I hardy think it is whining to insist that this woman stand the test of the office for which she is running, as Barack Obama, John McCain and Joe Biden all have done. Whoever you prefer in this election, at least those three people have appeared before the press and have proved that they can at least answer a question without bumbling. But then, perhaps you are satisfied with Bush, who is not often capable of opening his mouth without sounding like an idiot or a bully - much like Ms. Palin.

[MurrayAbraham]

Of course she should be vetted by the press, and she has been. Major conservative columnists, such as David Brooks, George Will and Kathleen Parker, already have declared her unfit for office. Republican personalities, such as David Gurgen , have condemned her line of attack on the campaign trail.

That is not the point. The point is SNL is not the press. Asking them to vet Palin would simply give credence to her die hard fans that Hollywood is in the tank for democrats. It would be as stupid as was Tucker Carlson who blamed Jon Stewart for not asking Kerry tough questions during the 2004 campaign.

Furthermore, Tina Fey has already made Sarah Palin the laughing stock of America, highlighting her inability to even articulate an English sentence. That is why I consider setting preconditions to Palin's appearance on SNL is whining.

[Rusel deMaria - Huffpost Blogger]

The real point of this article is to call attention to the fact that Palin is seeking some kind of validation and popularity boost from a respected show while failing to meet the requirements of the office she is seeking. It is unthinkable that the first woman to run on a Republican presidential ticket, and only the second woman to run on a major party presidential ticket, is unable to answer the questions that would be asked of any brand new figure on the political scene running for such an office - man or woman. The games that McCain is playing with the American people to prevent Sarah Palin from embarrassing herself, and tanking his political aspirations are shameful and unworthy. If Sarah Palin is so unprepared that she can't stand before the press and answer freeform questions, then she certainly should not be running for an office so close to the presidency. This is the real message. The use of SNL is to highlight the contrast and call people's attention to the fact that this is just another game, and another way that McCain and Palin are attempting to promote someone who is clearly not qualified. I, for one, do not think she has earned the right to be on a show I respect, but that does not ask her to identify herself and prove her fitness to be VP.

[moeg]

Seems to me that McCain has been the big whiner - last night and again tonight on Letterman. And Sarah Palin did plenty of whining any time anyone wanted to play "Stump the Candidate," like asking her what she reads. The Republicans live by a complete double standard - actually there really is no standard. They're always Right/right. Rules do not apply to them. For every "tit," so to speak, that they dish out, there's a "tat" that could be tossed back at them. But it's all irrelevant to them. They live in an alternate universe of their own "intelligent" design. They really don't believe in anything other than the dollar and the right to make as much as possible at the expense of anyone and everyone else. I was raised Republican, my mom wore what we called in the 50s a good Republican cloth coat (you older readers might recognize the reference that comes from Nixon's "Checkers" speech). As a teenager I campaigned heartily for Nixon v. Kennedy and a few years later I was a passionate Goldwater girl. I was a Conservative, then became and Independent, now am a registered Democrat. This is the most important election ever. If McPalin win, it will be the tipping point into a really dark time. It's pretty dim now; so, let's turn up the juice and make sure Obama-Biden get elected.

[DemoMom]

Good letter and I agree 100%. Sarah Palin is like a high school cheerleader and she just craves the attention. Please don't give her the chance to show off like that in front of so many people like some kind of 3rd rate celebrity when she hasn't had the guts to face a news conference. Appear on SNL right before the election? No way!!!