A Hil Spoof? It Wouldn’t Be Prudent.
Hillary Clinton's rivals aren't the only ones feeling pressure from her big lead in the polls. Comics are also scrambling—to figure out how to do a good impression of her. On "Saturday Night Live," star Amy Poehler has yet to nail her Hillary. Poehler's performance during last month's season premiere—the first time she delivered a full-fledged speech as the senator—fell flat.
Other skilled impressionists say Hillary's lack of a distinctive accent (her husband's), facial tic (Dubya's squint) or memorable phrase ("Wouldn't be prudent") has made her tricky to capture. "There aren't a lot of sharp angles to Hillary," says former "SNL" star Ana Gasteyer, who played her prior to Poehler. Teresa Barnwell, a professional Hillary look-alike since 1993, doesn't even try to imitate her voice, focusing instead on a perfect haircut, a black pantsuit and an eerie physical similarity. "She doesn't give me a lot to mimic," says Barnwell. Political impressionist Jim Morris, who does a killer (Bill) Clinton and Bushes 41 and 43, says Hillary is "daunting." His take on her starts with a tight smile. Then he toys nervously with an imaginary necklace and speaks in a confident, slightly admonishing manner. "The subtleties are still fleshing themselves out," he says.
Fortunately, it's early. Rich Little recalls struggling to do Ronald Reagan during the early 1980s, overrelying on the Gipper's "Well … " before nailing Reagan's voice patterns. Others note that campaigns have a way of wearing down candidates, leading to the slip-ups (George W. Bush's "strategery") or buzzwords (Al Gore's "lockbox") that are a humorist's lifeblood. But Clinton hasn't cracked yet. If comedy history's a guide, though, she will soon. They all do.
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Daniel McGinn is a national correspondent, based in Boston. He writes about management and other topics, and also helps oversee Newsweek's partnership in the Kaplan-Newsweek MBA program, which launched in late 2006.
McGinn joined Newsweek in 1992 as a summer intern. He worked in New York until 1996, when he moved to Detroit as a correspondent and bureau chief. In Detroit he covered the auto industry and other Midwest business stories. He moved to Boston in 1999. He has written cover profiles of business leaders like Bill Ford and Jack Welch, along with cover stories on topics ranging from the economy to marriage to children's television. His work as won awards from the Automotive Press Association and the National Association of Real Estate Editors, and he was twice ranked among America's 30 best young business reporters.
McGinn is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College, and he also holds an MBA from Auburn University. His freelance writing has appeared in Wired, Inc., Fast Company and The Boston Globe Magazine. He has appeared as a guest on NBC's Today Show, NPR, CNBC and MSNBC. His first book, "HOUSE LUST: America's Obsession with our Homes," will be published by Doubleday in December 2007. A native of New Jersey, McGinn and his wife live in Massachusetts with their three children.
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