Politicians gone wild! Obama brings high ratings to Letterman

I'm a bit of a political junkie, so this was my viewing schedule last night. I turned on "Dancing with the Stars" in time to see former Rep. Tom DeLay do the cha cha cha to the tune of "Wild Thing" with the lovely Cheryl Burke; he was not terrible, but the sight of DeLay shaking his sweatpant-covered butt in the rehearsal footage was far more tragic than magic, to paraphrase head judge Len Goodman. Then it was over to "The Jay Leno Show," where Rep. Barney Frank was the target of Jay's 10 @ 10. Rep. Frank is known by both Democrats and Republicans as one of the quickest wits in Congress and he got off a few good lines; when Leno asked him with whom he would prefer to dine, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck, he replied: "I guess of the three, I would take Rush Limbaugh, because it would be very painful, and he would come with the painkillers."

Finally, it was time for the main attraction: President Barack Obama on "Late Show with David Letterman." The segment started out with a bit of levity, with President Obama asking to take a closer look at a heart-shaped potato that an audience member had inexplicably brought with her to show Dave. After the president pocketed the spud, the conversation turned to weightier matters, like race and health care reform. I missed the president's Sunday morning chat show appearances, so I can't compare his "Late Show" sit-down to those segments, but Dave once again proved himself to be a thoughtful and respectful interviewer. I especially like the way he allows an interview to be serious without feeling the need to come up with a punch line to lighten the mood, something Jon Stewart too often does with his heavyweight political guests.

The overnight ratings were kind to DeLay, not so much to Jay: "DWTS" was watched by 17.5 million viewers, making it the top show of the night, even though its numbers were down from the last season premiere. (A new episode of "House" proved formidable competition.) "Leno" dropped to a new low, with 5.6 million viewers, not a surprise since it was up against a new "CSI: Miami." In late night, the president helped boost Letterman's ratings to a four-year high: Dave won a 5.6/14 (household rating/share) compared to Conan's 1.9/5. Letterman even dominated in the coveted™ 18-49 demographic.

Since you probably weren't watching, here's Rep. Frank on "Leno":