Opinion: The night-owl vote

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Remember when it was a big deal that Bill Clinton played the sax on ‘The Arsenio Hall Show?’

Well, in the years since that 1992 moment, showing up on the late-night circuit has become practically de rigueur for those seeking the White House. And the thrill has long since gone from such drop-bys. Tonight, though, there’s a possibility for some must-see TV when Democrat Dennis Kucinich strolls onto the set of the ‘Late Show with David Letterman.’

As the Cleveland Plain Dealer detailed earlier this week, Kucinich often has served as the butt for some of Letterman’s bits, so the vibe between the pair could veer into the bizarre.

We were curious about appearances on the late-night shows by those definitely running for president and those whose names have been in the mix, and discovered that the good folks at the National Journal’s Political Hotline are keeping track. We gleefully crib their tally.

‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ has played host to Republicans Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson and Democrats John Edwards and Bill Richardson. Letterman has had on Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrats Barack Obama and Al Gore* (he takes an asterisk, since people keep talking about a possible run that he keeps denying). On the ‘Daily Show,’ Jon Stewart has gone giggly with Gore* and Republicans John McCain and Ron Paul. Steve Colbert has traded quips with Paul, Mike Huckabee (another Republican) and Democrat Mike Gravel on the ‘Colbert Report.’

So on the late-night political lean-o-meter, we have Leno down the middle, Letterman leaning left, Stewart leaning right and Colbert kind of twisting like a pretzel.

--Scott Martelle