I was watching a news story on CNN a few days ago about presidential candidates appearing on talk shows like Letterman and Leno. The assertion was that if they hope to make it to the white house, they need to display their sense of humor on national television. It was pointed out that Bob Dole bombed on one of these venues, and it contributed to his losing the election. Damn, have we become that vacuous as a nation that this is how we choose our elected officials? Ok, that's an unnecessary rhetorical question, please forgive me.

A good sense of humor is a valuable personality trait, don't get me wrong. But I'm still just a tad more concerned about where our candidates stand on the issues; not how skilled they are at delivering a one liner or inspiring a rim-shot on Late Night With David Letterman. To be honest, I'm not even certain I agree with this reasoning. They showed a clip of Bush from the 2000 campaign, and quite frankly, his sense of humor seemed about as stale as a month old opened bag of Cheetoes. Well, in my opinion, anyway. His comedic sensibilities leave about as much to be desired as his linguistic skills. He's far better at inspiring humor than delivering it, that's for sure. The one thing I'll miss about old Dubya after he leaves office is the endless fountain of gaffes.

Clinton never really did it for me either, I guess. Maybe I'm just too hard to please.

On the other hand, perhaps I'm wrong. If we can't really expect competency from our presidents, the occupant of the White House should at least be able to make us laugh (intentionally, that is) while the country slides down the tubes. Press conferences could be held in comedy clubs. Get rid of the desk in the oval office, and just put in a microphone. Do away with The State of the Union Address. Every January the House and Senate should throw a big roast, with Uncle Sam as guess of honor. The Prez could serve as host. Hey, I like that idea! I just might tune for that broadcast.

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