Anyone who has been following this election for a while knows the role that parody and comedy has played in it. Saturday Night Live, in particular, with its amusing portrayals of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin has significantly affected the views of those who have viewed the caricatures. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have practically made their careers on skewering politicians and changing the daily political discourse.

Unfortunately, a darker side of technology, and e-journalism in particular, the dreaded chain e-mail, has also changed perceptions of Obama for the worse. In these e-mails, conservative hack jobs posing as journalists post awful rumors calling Obama a closet Muslim, a terrorist, or a rabid Israel-hater who seeks to ruin the Jewish state. Whether he is a Muslim or not is irrelevant to me, we have freedom of religion in this country for a reason, I care about the person. Unfortunately, older voters grew up with perception of black people like Louis Farrakhan. These voters, typically lifelong Democrats, could potentially put the crucial state of Florida in jeopardy should they defect en masse to McCain.

These worries have lead the group Jews Vote to launch The Great Schlep. The goal of the initiative is to have younger Jews, who have shown stronger support for Obama, to visit their elderly Jewish grandparents in Florida and convince them to vote Obama. At the Great Schlep website, Sarah Silverman stars in a video to encourage fellow young Jews into action. In typical Sarah Silverman fashion, an irreverent, potentially offensive, always funny video provides a primer on the goal of the Great Schlep and to recruit followers to the cause. If you haven’t seen the video yet, I highly recommend you check it out. If you want to be bored, you can also check out a response by the Republican Jewish Coalition starring Jackie Mason.

For many reasons, this issue of Jews in Florida and other areas of the country may no longer be the issue. McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin, a rabid evangelical, has driven more soft Democratic Jewish voters to doubt McCain. Conversely, Obama’s selection of Joe Biden has reassured many Jewish voters who questioned Obama’s commitment to Israel. Further, with the economic crisis in full swing, Obama has taken leads in many other states that compensate and then some for Florida’s coveted electoral votes, as well as in the Sunshine State itself. Nonetheless, even though Obama might lead now, anything can happen, and every vote matters. Thus I fully support the efforts of Sarah Silverman’s Great Schlep. So, to my fellow Jews, get your ass in gear!

P.S.

You don’t need to go to Florida to help. Phone calls, e-mails, etc. can all have the same impact in convincing skeptics of all kinds. So don’t be lazy (like me), and help make sure your candidate of choice prevails on November 4_th.

Next time: Deconstructing Judge!