5 Hilarious Parodies of the Current Presidential Candidates

To many rational people, Herman Cain is appalling as a presidential candidate. He’s allegedly sexually harassed an increasing cadre of women, and seemingly minimized the importance of foreign policy in the presidency with his characterization of Uzbekistan as “Uz-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan.” He feels close enough to the democracy-destroying Kochs that he called them “brothers from another mother.” And yet he is inexplicably high up in the polls, trailing only Mitt Romney as the GOP’s top nominee. The whole thing is, frankly, a little scary.

But, when you step back, isn't it also a little funny? At the very least, if you can detach yourself for a moment, the whole prospect of Herman Cain becoming president is so absurd that laughter might seem like the only appropriate response. If he weren’t auditioning to run our country, he could certainly make a compelling case for a spot on a daytime talk show, or perhaps running a celebrity news program. And if the sexual harassment scandal is not hurting his chances at the nomination with conservatives, then it certainly wouldn’t mar his reputation as someone with the ability to garnish ratings and web hits.

Luckily somebody already thought of all this: Tim Heidecker, the comedian/musician and “Tim” half of cult Cartoon Network series Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, became obsessed with Herman Cain after his odd, kitschy “smoking man” ad, and is already well-versed in the fine art of parody. At the end of October, Heidecker began releasing Herman Cain-related songs, including “Cain Train” and “Cain Train Part Two.”

Inspired by Cain’s apparent disregard for anyone’s opinion but his own—and the double entendre of “Cain Train,” quite useful in song—Heidecker decided to devote a whole album to the presidential candidate, creating fake campaign ads spanning the utterly absurd to the lightweight sorrowful. Titled Cainthology: Songs in the Key of Cain, Heidecker will donate all proceeds to the VIP Medical Clinics for Abused Children and Community Mental Health Center. So far, our favorite song is “Lord Cain,” which pokes fun at Cain obsessives by comparing him to the risen Messiah:

Poking fun at presidential candidates is nothing new—for proof, watch any election-year episode of "Saturday Night Live" since its inception -- but it takes a very subtle, sly comedic gift to parody any politician well. Alec Baldwin’s Rick Perry is amazing, because Baldwin’s the king of deadpan; Fred Armisen’s Barack Obama is not that compelling, because he hits the vocal tics way too hard (and, you know, BLACKFACE). But this election season is ripe for parody, particularly with the wild tangle of GOP options. Here are some of the best.

1. Three Things With Gov. Rick Perry

Perry’s erratic behavior during the debates is ripe for picking, but so far Funny or Die has done it best: a spoof on the night this week when Perry couldn’t name three government agencies he would eliminate. But what if his memory lapses extend to everything in life?

2. Newt Gingrich Parody Twitter

It’s mean to kick a man while he’s down, but since Gingrich has done that since the beginning of his career, we don’t feel too bad at relishing twitter.com/newtgingrich, a spoof that both pokes fun and illuminates the essential badguyness of his beliefs. Sample Tweet: “I have a new 'Contract with America.' This Contract can only be broken if America gets cancer and is on her death bed. #newt2012 @thehill.” Related: @MainBrotherCain, @TheRealRomney