With ratings sky-rocketing behind Tina Fey’s vivacious Sarah Palin impersonations, “Saturday Night Live” is enjoying unparalleled late night success. The election cycle routinely provides “SNL” writers with material, but perhaps never before has an actor or actress so closely emulated a political figure quite like Fey.

Fey caricatures Palin to perfection and her demeanor virtually mimics that of the VP nominee. This, however, is only half of Fey’s talent, her piercing voice and homely style of speech truly capture Palin’s mannerisms.

While Fey has etched her name into “SNL”  history, John McCain impressionist Darrell Hammond has been overlooked. Hammond’s voice lends itself perfectly to this role; unfortunately his downfall comes in his lack of physical presence. His inability to mimic McCain’s disjointed movements and feeble stature, both common among the elderly, leave something to be desired.

Jason Sudeikis’ attempt to replicate Joe Biden’s feisty personality on the whole was subpar and Fred Armisen’s reproduction of Barack Obama was strange to say the very least. Armisen is plastered with make-up to give his skin a darker hue and has his hair cut to the point where it only scarcely resembles that of Obama’s. Armisen’s performance is not convincing in the least as his voice is not deep and passionate like that of Obama’s; instead it sounds scripted.

To find impersonations equal to those of Palin, we must travel back in time to the years of Bill Clinton. Phil Hartman played Clinton, complete with the raspy southern voice and full white head of hair and explains his reasoning behind sending troops to Somalia while devouring his beloved fast food. The skit is especially effective as Hartman replicated Clinton’s southern swagger and hoarse accent to perfection.

The funniest clip of all time, however, may be an impersonation of Jimmy Carter by Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd acts as the former president in a segment called “Ask President Carter,” where Carter takes questions live from callers. One caller, who is having a bad acid trip, calls Carter for advice; Carter hesitates before pinpointing the type of acid the caller must have dropped and diagnosing the symptoms as well as what the caller must do to sober up. Shock sets onto the face of the anchor screening the calls after Carter demonstrates his thorough and in-depth knowledge of acid.

Though “SNL”’sratings will undoubtedly drop after the election, this year’s marathon of skits, especially those featuring Fey have left viewers grinning during an overwhelmingly negative election cycle.