Amy Poehler's performance as Senator Hillary Clinton on SNL gave me a fresh, exhilarating reminder of the power and usefulness of two of my favorite things to make: satire and overexposed photographs.
In their essence, the two have everything in common. Both rev up reality until we're able to make out every detail lurking in the spots our naked eyes perceive only as shadow. Literal shadows in photography. Shadowlands of the soul in satire.
It's the difference between this photo and this photo.
(Yes, I do need a shave. And yes, I did stick a piece of cardboard in my mouth to do a quick, lame job of illustrating a point. Yes, I should have more dignity. No, the fact that I wrote "LIES" on a piece of cardboard and hid it in the shadowy recesses of my mouth does not necessarily mean that I am lying to you right now.)
Poehler gave SNL viewers an overexposed Hillary Clinton. She let us see the shadows. In doing so, she gave us the real Hillary Clinton. Or -- to be more charitable -- she gave us an honest rendering of the part the senator is willing to play to propel her last desperate grab for the nomination. There, on-screen in America's living rooms, Poehler gave calm but full voice to all the whispery insinuations Clinton keeps making in justifying her continued run.
With her smiling, soothing "My supporters are racist" talking point, Poehler translated into plain English the coded message Clinton herself sent in an interview with USA Today last week: "Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again ..."
I question the non-Poehler Clinton on two points: 1) Whether any meaningful fraction of Democrats is so closed to Senator Obama that he literally cannot win its trust and its votes by November; 2) Whether "supporters" is the word you use to describe a group of people who have voted for you and would vote for you again but wouldn't trust your endorsement of Obama enough to give him a fresh chance.
Back in TV land, Poehler summed up Clinton's pitch to the superdelegates like this: "Sore loser, racist supporters, no ethical standards. Qualities Senator Obama simply cannot match. That's not an attack on my opponent. It's just the truth. When you consider that, the choice is obvious."
But is this "just the truth"? Some, clearly, won't think so. But I have in my possession at least one shred of anecdotal evidence of a shift in public opinion. On March 29, I posted a satirical President Hillary Clinton speech that could serve as a sequel to the remarks Poehler delivered on SNL. Someone dear to me, someone I respect, someone who'd voted for Senator Clinton read what I'd posted, took offense, and called up to complain that I'd been "vicious."
Sunday, six weeks later, the same person e-mailed me about SNL and wrote, "It was definitely harsh, but she has really left herself open for such satire."
I believe Senator Clinton can win back someone like this to the ranks of her defenders. She can start by disproving the darkest fear voiced in the SNL sketch:
If, on the other hand, Senator Obama is chosen I will probably refuse to campaign for him. Or if I do so, it will be in a resentful, half-hearted way, thus ensuring his defeat so I that I can run again in 2012. You see, unlike my opponent, I'm just not going to lose gracefully. It's not a criticism of Senator Obama. It's just a fact.
Senator Clinton will get the last word on this. Once she officially loses the nomination, she can make the Poehler sketch look ridiculous. Or she can make it look like prophecy.
I wish I could say I'm not worried.
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