Ok, this is funny. More importantly, worth the watch. The criticism oft heard  with Ted Cruz is that he has little appeal outside of the tea party base, and seemingly has no interest in appealing to those outside of the Conservative hardcores (though there have been exceptions). Airing a parody Christmas ad during SNL this week? Seems like Ted Cruz is catching on, and playing for keeps.

It's also pretty dang good.

Hope you’re ready for a campy Ted Cruz Christmas parody meets infomercial meets sanctioned campaign ad. The Texas Senator and 2016 presidential candidate will play the above ad in crucial Iowa TV markets during this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” broadcast, according to Cruz Communications Director Catherine Frazier. Cruz is no stranger to non-traditional campaigning, he has cooked bacon on the end of a machine gun and performed full-throated “Princess Bride” impressions on the trail in 2016. The above video features Cruz reading to his two daughters, along with his wife, in a traditional Christmas setting. However, the Christmas tales he tells are political satire.

We know the brilliant debater Ted Cruz (who is also impossible to catch off guard), we know the principled Conservative Ted Cruz... but funny Ted Cruz? I think this video does a lot more than having AM radio pundits/cablenews singing your praises. That audience is already voting for you.

This is designed to reach the audience Republicans need to convince.

It's also a way to do it without compromising the principles of Conservatism or the message. It's merely a messaging and packaging play. While people like McCain and Romney thought that going more "moderate" was the way to convince the masses, Cruz is sticking to his guns, but using tools available here that other GOPers shunned.

Something else to note: during the Christmas season, news slows to a halt. If you ever needed more proof as to how modern news is often entirely fabricated, look to the latest "War on Christmas" stories plastered across "news" home-pages everywhere. Fact is, not only politicians, but world leaders, network executives, programmers and yes, even hosts are phoning the news cycle in, looking to spend time at home with their families.

So rather than fight against that current, Cruz has taken the opportunity to tap into a void that exists every year. It's Christmas. People don't want to talk immigration, taxes or abortion. They want to focus on Christmas. It'll be interesting to see if this continues to assist Cruz's surge while everyone else puts their campaign on pause.

That being said, if you really want to see Cruz be funny, the interview below is the one to watch. ;)