Eva Longoria guest stars as yet another new girl in school Lisa befriends, only this one has political views that Lisa doesn't like (read: she's a Republican, and not an Abraham Lincoln- or even a Ronald Reagan-era Republican — a George W. Bush one).
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Brown: Isabel is obviously Hispanic from her name, accent and coloring, but characters dance around the fact they don't quite know which nationality she is.
- Band Land: Springfield is depicted this way in the Couch Gag, which is a parody of the Silly Symphonies cartoon "Music Land", with all the Springfield townspeople shown as anthropomorphic instruments.
- Big Eater: When Milhouse gets an M&M out of his ear, Homer desperately tells himself not to eat it because "it's been in his ear". When the dog catches the M&M, Homer tells himself not to eat it because "it's been in the boy's ear and the dog's mouth." Afterwards, Homer notices the M&M on his tongue. Marge then sticks it back into Milhouse's ear, exasperated with the antics.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Lisa borrows Mr. Burns' "Excellent" and even places her hands the same way Burns places his when he says "Excellent". Upon realizing this, she says she doesn't want to be like that.
- Continuity Cameo: Mr. Bergstrom makes a non-speaking appearance after Marge shouts upstairs to Lisa that "someone who loves" her put melted butter on her vegetables.Marge: Thank you, Mr. Bergstrom. I'll tell Lisa you dropped by.
- Continuity Cavalcade: When Groundskeeper Willie brings the election banner inside his shed, it's revealed that he has additional banners that references past events on the show:
- Corrupt Politician: The Republican Party's Springfield Chapter rigs a Student Council President election to make Isabel win because she's Republican and a Latin American in hopes that she'll bring the Latin American community to their side.
- Epic Fail: Near the end of the episode, Superintendent Chalmers masters the Spanish accent so much, that while he can pronounce Isabel's name flawlessly, he struggles to pronounce Lisa's name.
- Fun-Hating Villain: In the Musicville couch gag, Mr. Burns is portrayed as such in that he hates anything jazz and forces everybody in Springfield to play his preferred music and only his.
- Gainax Ending: Future Homer is shown watching the election on TV with his tuba counterpart from the Couch Gag.
- Most Writers Are Adults: Two 8-year olds are having a major ideological debate, and the stakes of this election are on par with an ACTUAL election. No kids this young would have such fully formed and passionate political beliefs.
- No True Scotsman: Half the episode is challenging the underlying belief that someone belonging to a minority group in the US would be a Republican.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: To show Isabel how powerful he is, Mr. Burns reveals that he bribed People Magazine into declaring him the sexiest man alive. Most of the bribe was to convince them that he's alive.
- Shared Dream: Played for Laughs: Lisa has a dream where she's visited by various recent Democrats, including Bill Clinton, who's so boring she falls asleep in the dream to get away from him, thereby waking up. It later turns out that Homer, asleep in the next room, replaced her as Clinton's unwilling audience.
- Significant Anagram: Isabel's first scene has her comment that an anagram of her name is "Be Lisa."
- Special Guest: Anderson Cooper appears As Himself. Eva Longoria guest stars as Isabel Gutierrez.
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The episode ends with Lisa and Isabel at the 2056 presidential election, with Lisa responding to Anderson Cooper's question about getting America out of Afghanistan, by saying she would throw in the towel and make Afghanistan a state.
