Jay Passes on Dems' Debate

While Hillary, Barack, and other Democratic presidential hopefuls squared off against each other in South Carolina yesterday, Jay Leno was conspicuously absent from the debate, choosing instead to remain in Burbank to tape Thursday evening's Tonight Show. As usual, a brilliant decision by Jay.

"As a political strategy, passing on a presidential debate is always risky," commented one unidentified political analyst after watching the debate. "But as boring and uneventful as this debate was, Jay's decision to stay in Burbank showed just how smart he really is."

Jay has yet to formally announce his candidacy or even acknowledge the existence of the Jay Leno for President campaign. But his absence from Thursday's debate at the University of South Carolina obviously affected the overall performance of the Democratic candidates who were there.

"If Jay had participated in the debate, the whole atmosphere would have been much more relaxed and enjoyable," said a campaign spokesperson. "Jay has a way of putting audiences in a great mood, ready for laughter. Without him, the debate was a stiff, droll affair. About the only thing to laugh about was the fact that Dennis Kucinich even showed up."
For their parts, the Democratic candidates, too wrapped up self-congratulatory raves of their own mediocre performances, did not comment on Jay's absence from the debate. But Democratic debate organizers were clearly worried that total TV viewership of the debate ran woefully behind The Tonight Show's numbers for Thursday night.

"It's okay if they don't want to invite Jay to participate in their debates," said campaign chairman Howard Lester. "Jay's positions on the issues are already clear to everyone. Besides, Jay will still invite his challengers onto his show from time to time. And who knows, maybe The Tonight Show will sponsor its own presidential debate before the election."

The bottom line still is: Jay definitely knows what he's doing. It's the other candidates who don't.