Late-Night's Not Always a Laugher for Candidates

In an era of politics-as-entertainment and entertainment-as-news, "most presidential campaigns consider late-night a standard part of the TV gantlet, a chance to humanize a candidate and reach a broad swath of the country," reports the Boston Globe. As one Democratic insider says, "Letterman is the Tim Russert of the talk shows. He's the actual test. On Leno, you can go on and do your bit. Whereas on Letterman, he isn't afraid to ask you legitimately tough questions. He'll do his part to trip you up." Read more...
• Related: Late-Night TV Comedy, Election 2004 Humor