Hearts & Minds: SNL skit may turn off the very voters Harris needs to win over.

The actor Maya Rudolph impersonated Kamala Harris on this week’s Saturday Night Live, and said: “Gosh, I wish I could talk to someone who’s been in my shoes. You know, a Black south Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area.” Rudolph turned a vanity mirror to see, sitting opposite, the real Kamala Harris.

Wild cheers erupted from the studio audience, the two women laughed and then indulged in a skit. Harris’s appearance with just four days to go before the election, was funny and humanising.

Yes, but did it really achieve anything? In fact, could it have proved more harmful than beneficial?

SNL’s demographic leans heavily towards the Democrats. Many Republicans loathe the show for what they see as its liberal bias and sneering elitism. At this late stage, if you’re still unsure about whether to vote for Harris, it’s unlikely to be because you’re concerned that she’s not liberal enough. In that context, with the election possibly set to come down to a few tens of thousands of votes, was the SNL gambit worth it?

That may seem harsh but doubts at least ought to have been raised in the Harris camp, enough to ensure a full debate before she agreed to take part.

Her dilemma was similar to that confronted by CEOs, particularly those of well-known brands. Radio and TV producers like to recruit them. It may seem a golden opportunity, a chance to sell themselves, to sell the brand. But only if that’s what it will do. There is little point in obtaining publicity for the sake of it, there has to be actual benefit. Worse, it could prove highly damaging. 

Broadcast can be extremely unforgiving. One awkward moment, a dissonant note, and all that careful image-making and reputation-crafting is undone - they’ve gone viral alright but not in a way they would relish.

Look at Robert Jenrick’s wife, Michal. On Saturday, she was at her husband’s side when the Tory leadership result was formally announced. He’d lost to Kemi Badenoch, and those in the room immediately applauded her elevation. On the front row, the Jenricks graciously joined in. Except Michal soon stopped. The others didn’t, and the clip of Michal looking startled and having to restart, went everywhere, even being repeated on that evening’s TV news bulletins.

Do your homework. Consult your advisors. Weigh up closely the potential upside and downside for your reputation and that of the brand. Only then commit.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.