Who even says politicians need to be funny? Quite frankly most of them are dull, boring and snore fests … which is fine. Instead, they should be considering how to figure out our country’s woes rather than firing off Totie Fields one-liners. "Saturday Night Live" might have pulled huge ratings by having Sarah Palin on this past weekend, but Governor Palin, you’re no Ann Richards. Oh, and you’re also no Tina Fey as Sarah Palin! (But Tina’s got the comedy thing down pat so back to Palin.) 

Have I not followed everything Palin has said?  Has she had one decent laugh-out-loud one-liner since entering the race as the Republican vice-presidential nominee? Have I missed a side splitter? I mean, that lipstick-on-a-pig slinger was no bombastic blaster. Palin saying, "Live from New York!" didn’t make me giggle nor did her repartee (if you can call it that) with uber-liberal Alec Baldwin make me holler: "Now, that’s funny." We have to go back in time to a quick-thinking funny governor from Texas to remember and treasure the skill of being a highly regarded politician who could also tell a joke.

Ann Richards gave the famously memorable regarded keynote speech at the 1988 Democratic National convention. Remember her classic zinger? "Poor George, he can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth." That was simply the way Richards spoke day in and day out. (By the way, you can betcha’ Ann would have rapped with the Eskimos on "SNL"!) Her biting humor was also known for not offending an opposing viewpoint. With her wisecracks also came the gift of charm, compassion and a tone of voice that was never mean. "We’re gonna tell how the cow ate the cabbage," were lines that came out as natural as if she had been given the gift of a silver tongue. You just get the sense that Sarah Palin might be a mean one and a little bit of a bully. (I don’t know, Troopergate?)

No doubt she can be charming. Politicians have that skill down too so they can get your vote and then once they’ve notched their spot again for another four or six years, they don’t necessarily have to be all that charming, or even fun. Or in this case trying to be what they’re not on "Saturday Night Live." As Chevy Chase said of her appearance, "What was brilliant about ["SNL" chief] Lorne [Michaels] was that he had nothing written for Sarah and that apparently she cannot improvise herself out of a paper bag!"

Click the play button below to see the late Ann Richards put her sense of humor to use.

Video courtesy of Ann Moore of Time Inc.

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