Opinion: “Saturday Night Live” skewers Palin, Obama, McCain and both Clintons

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As election day draws ever nearer, politics is taking center stage on ‘Saturday Night Live.’

Last night, recent Emmy winner Tina Fey returned for a second go-round as Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, interviewed by Katie Couric (Amy Poehler). (How good is that impersonation? Check out Couric’s interviews with Palin on the ‘CBS Evening News’ here, here and here. And sharp-eared Ticketers will note that some of the language in the sketch -- about the bailout of the financial sector, job creation and healthcare reform -- is taken verbatim from the CBS interview.)

Later came the debate between Barack Obama (Fred Armisen) and John McCain (Darrell Hammond) -- with Hillary Clinton (Poehler) waiting in the wings, just in case.

And finally, the versatile Hammond returned during the ‘Weekend Update’ segment as Bill Clinton.

-- Leslie Hoffecker