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Opinion: That Barack Obama speech on TV this week? ‘Saturday Night Live’ predicts something else

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We all know that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has purchased half an hour of television time Wednesday evening. (How much clout does this guy have? Major League Baseball agreed to push back the start time of the World Series so he could buy time on the Fox network. Now that’s clout.)

But what you don’t know -- at least according to the folks over at ‘Saturday Night Live’ -- is that Obama isn’t going to give a speech.

FRED ARMISEN AS SEN. BARACK OBAMA: ‘Good evening, my fellow Americans. I am Barack Obama and this is my wife, Michelle. This coming Wednesday, our campaign will run a special 30-minute address on all four major networks. MAYA RUDOLPH AS MICHELLE OBAMA: ‘This airtime was initially purchased so that we could speak to you one last time about the issues.’ ARMISEN AS BARACK OBAMA: ‘However, with poll numbers putting us so far ahead, we decided now’s the time to play it safe.’ RUDOLPH AS MICHELLE OBAMA: ‘Instead of a conventional address, we’re going to carefully manage our lead and, well, shake things up ...’ (THE LIGHTS COME UP ON STAGE. THERE IS A LARGE SILVER ‘O’ ON THE FLOOR OF THE STAGE.) ARMISEN AS BARACK OBAMA: ‘... with the ‘Barack Obama Variety Half-Hour’!’

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According to ‘SNL,’ the half-hour (see the video by clicking on Read more...) will feature ...

... musical numbers -- ‘Our House is a very, very, very fine House’ by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Kristin Wiig), with backup by Reps. Rahm Emanuel (Andy Samberg) and Barney Frank (Bobby Moynihan), and former President Bill Clinton (Darrell Hammond) crooning ‘Don’t you forget about me’ -- and a comedy sketch with vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden (Jason Sudeikis) enjoying a tasty dinner by putting his foot in his mouth. There are even special guest appearances by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright (Kenan Thompson) and ‘60s radical William Ayers (Bill Hader).

But where, you might wonder, is Hillary Clinton? Amy Poehler, the ‘SNL’ cast member who portrays the New York senator, went into labor Saturday and is now the proud mom of 8-pound, 1-ounce Archie Arnett. According to an NBC press release, ‘Mother, baby and husband Will Arnett are all healthy and resting comfortably.’

-- Leslie Hoffecker

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