SNL Parody of the Guv...Ouch.

By now you have heard that Saturday Night Live has parodied Governor Napolitano.  I've been looking for the clip and it's on KTVK's website.

It's interesting to see how others view the Governor.  We are used to Governor Napolitano's bizarre appearance and hardball tactics. 

However, she appears to be making an unfavorable impression on the national scene.  The SNL mocking is devastating.  Even her harshest critics don't point out her harsh hair style, deep voice and awkward mannerisms. 

Perhaps worse, the President Elect's advisers seem to have noticed that Napolitano's political style has more in common with Tony Soprano than with Barack Obama. 

The Yellow Sheets reported last week that they had a "An unimpeachable Dem source with top-level contacts in Obama's Chicago" who said that Napolitano is not being considered for AG and that she is only second or third in line for Homeland Security.  Here's what the source said."The people that are vetting her say she's too rough and not a team player,"

Here's how the AP described the SNL parody.

The brief impersonation by cast member Kristen Wiig came during host Paul Rudd's opening monologue.

Wiig then came out donning Napolitano's hairstyle - short and black with a gray spot in the front. She walked offstage awkwardly after giving an oversimplified answer on how she would secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

Even Governor Napolitano's geatest moment on the national stage--being named one of Time Magazine's Top Five Governors has been tainted by subsequent events. Time's award was based primarily on Napolitano's budget prowess. 

In her first week on the job, Napolitano took on the state's budget-deficit crisis. She presented a proposal that eliminated the $1 billion deficit without any tax increases. She persuaded moderate Republicans to vote the bill through with the minority Democrats. Now Arizona's economy is booming, with a projected budget surplus of more than $300 million and 4% job growth, the second highest in the nation after Nevada.

That reminds me of the time in 1999 when I proudly displayed the Wall Street Journal to my wife and announced that the fund where I had invested our money earned the highest returns of any mutual fund that year.  Subsequent results have made it impossible for me to refer back to that moment.  I guess the Governor may soon learn the same thing that I learned in 1999--Past Performance is Not Necessarily Indicative of Future Results.

Comments

[nick]

No love for Jamit on SNL??

So many Republicans in Arizona 2009
Legislature.

Jamit still sez Lottery will save the
Arizona bacon.

[Jim Torgeson]

J-No, say it ain't so.
Stay DC bound, please just go.

Damn, she just blew that budget all the while touting the Big O.

Go away.

[Jay]

"Bizarre appearance"? Now who's being harsh? Way to take it personal Mr. Pundit.

[ron]

Since AZ electors keep electing governors who attract the ridicule of the national media -

maybe we should look ourselves in the mirrors -

after all, we do get the government we deserve

[Lance E]

Janet has no leverage with the Obama team. She failed to deliver her state in the general (completely understandable) and in the primary (unforgivable). She is not a Chicago insider. She has little standing in D.C., having never served there. They get no affirmative action points with her, because many people who are not white males are well credentialed and willing to serve.

That means she has to earn it and that is a problem. When the Arizona Republic and the Arizona Daily Star look at Janet, they see the Lord and Master of the Universe. When the Obama team look at her, they see a public figure who presents as poorly as any public figure since Janet Reno, who is not a diplomat and who thinks there is a huge I in t-e-a-m.

Consequently, she has no shot at inner cabinet and while she is in contention for outer cabinet, that is not a lock. I disagree with Greg on the possibility of White House counsel. Presidents tend to want sycophantic yes men (see, John Dean, Harriet Meyers, Alberto Gonzales, all of Clinton's white house counsels) and there are people who can do that better than Janet.

What a difference eight months makes. Then, it was “Will she pick Attorney General of the U.S. or instead choose to waltz into the Senate!!?!!?” Now, she has no shot at being a serious player on the Obama team. Further, anyone who watched McCain on Leno and SNL in the last two weeks would have to be smoking something to believe he is going to voluntarily let go of the spotlight in 2010, a sentiment echoed to me by some of his closest people. He could call on his nationwide network of fund raisers, go on national TV 8 times in the last month and smash Janet the way Kyl smashed Pederson.

In the mean time, she gets to deal with a budget tsunami and a legislature of conservatives who despise her policies and are spoiling for a little payback. Life certainly is unpredictable.

[downwithhypocrites]

Bizarre appearance? Seriously? She looks like a regular person to me. A slickly packaged hottie? Obviously not. But can we just get past the idea that women in leadership have to look a certain way (Palin's a hottie! Great legs, Condie! Icky cankles, Hillary!) You were doing fine when you ripped on her policy and leadership failures. Plenty of fodder there...

[Jim Torgeson]

Still, eye candy helps!

[downwithhypocrites]

Bizarre appearance? Seriously? She looks like a regular person to me. A slickly packaged hottie? Obviously not. But can we just get past the idea that women in leadership have to look a certain way (Palin's a hottie! Great legs, Condie! Icky cankles, Hillary!) You were doing fine when you ripped on her policy and leadership failures. Plenty of fodder there...

[Lance E]

Update on my earlier post: sure enough, Obama has named Greg Craig, Clinton's impeachment counsel, as his WH counsel. He is noted for his ability to find legal support for whatever the boss chooses to do.

[eliza]

Before you continue crowing about the superiority of bloggers over journalists you might want to spell the president-elect's name correctly....

[The Klute]

Well, downwithhypocrites, Rush Limbaugh pioneered the "Democrats are ugly" school of Legitimate Political Thought (TM), so every right-wing pundit desperate for a lick of the shiny brass ring follows suit.

Who the hell cares what Napolitano looks like? How does that matter to governance?

[Faith]

What's so "bizarre" about Janet's appearance, Greg? And where did you see the governor's allegeed "awkward mannerisms" in that impression? Kristin Wiig does that same swayback, flailing arms thing with every character she plays.

[Retrorv]

He's named Eric Holder to the post: http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/poweringup/archive/2008/11/18/obama-s-attorney-general.aspx

[sickofhypocrisy]

How does anyone's personal appearance relate to their job? This blog is horrible - it's become nothing more than a venue for petty personal attacks against people Mr. Patterson dislikes. Can we please just make this blog go away and start leaving the reporting to real journalists...

[Tod]

@sickofhypocrisy ... sure you can make it go away ... stop visiting/reading/commenting.

As for the rest of us, we'll continue to read and enjoy Mr. Patterson.

[JAY]

Continue to read and enjoy your bitter, hateful demagogue.

[downwithhypocrites]

I'll be waiting for Greg's analysis of the physical appearance of men in leadership. Let the "bizarre" list begin! Or does Greg think they're all hotties who are beyond reproach??

[DGN]

If you don't like the blog, don't read the blog. Sheeeesh.

Anyhoo...

Eric Holder is the likely nominee for AG, thus leaving Napolitano with fewer potential jobs. Of course, many open slots remain, but my money is on her staying in Arizona. I don't think the Dems want an (R) governor who would immediately fire most of the state agency heads.

[Jay]

If you don't like the comments, don't read the comments. Sheeesh.

[Name:]

If you saw Napolitano's convention speech, you can see where the SNL lady did her only research. All she had to do was shout for the mimic to be spot on.

[Big Sister]

She needs to get the hunched over posture down a bit better and lose some of the make-up. You know, frump it up.

[Commander In Chief]

The intelligence level of this blog is rapidly descending to near Ann Coulter levels.
Mr. Patterson assured us that Barack Obama was "unelectable no matter how many times he disowns his white grandmother." He projected victories for Sydney Hay, David Schweikert, and Tim Bee.
In spite of these dismally inaccurate predictions, he wasted no time in congratulating himself on the accuracy of his predictions on the day after the election.
In the very same blog he labels 2008 a great year for the Republican Party. Apparently losing the White House, at least 7 seats in the United States Senate, and twenty or so more in the House didn't trouble him all that much.
Now we're treated to this very nasty and extremely personal attack on the Governor. Ms. Napolitano's hair, voice, and mannerisms did not prevent her from winning three statewide elections in Arizona. They did not prevent her from sweeping every single county in the state two years ago. Is this a political blog, or in Mr. Patterson just engaging in a nasty vendetta on a very personal level?