Election Analysis: Minority Rule?

For this final blog post, I'm going to discuss a portion of Weekend Update from this week's Saturday Night Live, in which "President Obama" lends some thoughts on why he was reelected on Tuesday. 

Here is the link to the video on Hulu:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/423752#i2,p0,d2

One memorable line comes when cast member Jay Pharoah, playing the president with a pretty remarkable replication of speak patterns and mannerisms, quips: "The number of older white men in this country is shrinking.  Meanwhile, a Hispanic gay woman is born every 8 seconds.... And, there's another one.  Welcome to America, baby Juanita!  One more vote for me!"  This joke smartly toys with one idea we've been hearing a lot about in the days following the election, which is "Obama's coalition" of voters that helped him achieve reelection (mainly younger Americans and minorities).  The sketch's line about a "Hispanic gay woman" (3 strikes on the minority scale!) pokes fun at the fact that America's white racial majority is shrinking year by year.  It also coincides with a lot of discussions about the Republican turnout at the polls last Tuesday, and what the party may be looking to do in order to keep up with the times come 2016.  As America's gender and sexual minority populations become more and more visible in the political sphere, and its racial minority populations become less and less of a minority, many are saying the Republicans need to change their strategy in order to appeal to these key voter bases.  This bit of the "Obama visit" from Weekend Update captures that argument adeptly. 

The sketch continues on with jokes about the fiscal cliff, Obama preparing to "play dirty" by eliminating the military, and several Republican congressmen's continuous discussion of rape: a portion that goes on way too long, to the point of getting rather over-the-top.  However, I think this sketch demonstrates SNL's continued practice of assessing the political scene of the country, and addressing it with humor in a way that viewers will find relatable.  This is something they have done since the show's inception, and something that, clearly, they will continue to do, even as our talks about the election wind down and the country moves forward.