For a failed presidential candidate, Bob Dole left a memorable pop culture impact
Dole will at least be remembered for the times Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons made fun of him

Bob Dole, who spent decades as a Republican Senator and ran for president against Bill Clinton in the ‘90s, died today. He was 98 and had been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer earlier this year. You can go elsewhere, like The New York Times, for an obituary that highlights his status as an “old soldier and stalwart of the Senate,” but here at The A.V. Club we believe it’s more appropriate to highlight the surprising impression that Dole left on popular culture—though it’s not surprising because it’s massive, it’s mostly surprising because it exists at all.
Dole wasn’t exactly a charismatic or easily likable figure (and he was a dedicated Trumper long before the Republican establishment embraced that horrific ideology), making him more like a John McCain type without the “I’m a maverick!”-streak that he liked to play up. Still, that made it easy for shows like Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons to poke fun at him.