The Palin Effect...on Clinton

By Samantha Hayes, for NEWS 9

Sept. 17, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and New York Senator Hillary Clinton.  Two women who made history in this presidential election. Might we ever see them together? The Saturday Night Live skit last weekend may be as close as we'll ever get, at least for right now.  You have probably seen clips from the comedy sketch. It may be the most popular political parody so far this election season, which has certainly provided comedians with plenty of material. Amy Poehler played Clinton and Tina Fey was Palin and part of the humor was the satirized animosity between the two characters.

Does art imitate real life? Well, we almost found out. A rally planned by a group of American Jewish organizations outside the United Nations next week to protest the appearance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad listed both Clinton and Palin and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel as featured speakers. When the New York Senator's camp found out that Palin was on board, Clinton was suddenly out. Spokesman Phiippe Reines said, "Her (Palin's) attendance was news to us, and this was never billed to us as a partisan political event." 

Palin and Clinton have been careful in their public statements about one another in the past. Palin praised Clinton's historic bid for the White House when she came on board as John McCain's running mate, but has laid off the compliments lately. Clinton continues to reinforce her message of support for Barack Obama and for the most part has avoided talking directly about Palin. 

But Clinton's withdrawal from next week's event has prompted a response from McCain's campaign. Spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt says, "Governor Palin believes that the danger of a nuclear Iran is greater than party or politics."

Saturday Night Live can go ahead and raise its curtain again. Clinton/Palin Act II is writing itself.