Dems, GOP Candidates Raise $675 Million, But Still Trail Jay in Popularity

With more than a year to go before the 2008 elections, Democratic and Republican candidates have raised over $675 million in campaign contributions, yet none can claim the popularity that Jay Leno enjoys...and he hasn't even entered the race.

According to Jay Leno for President campaign chairman Howard Lester, the grassroots campaign to draft Jay Leno as a presidential candidate has raised no money at all, but interest in Jay as a candidate has never been higher. "Visits to our website have gone through the roof and we haven't spent a dime," Lester said. "Each night, tens of millions of people watch Jay on The Tonight Show awaiting his announcement that he's going to join the race. They absolutely love the idea of Jay Leno running for president. What presidential candidates out there have that kind of appeal?"

Political media experts are still baffled by the outpouring of support for drafting Jay Leno as a presidential candidate. "We know Jay's a popular entertainer," said one unidentified advisor on political advertising to the Mitt Romney campaign, "but the fact that so many people want him to run for president, too, is inexplicable. Do you know how much money we'd have to spend to build that kind of popularity? Billions."

As total campaign contributions approach the billion dollar mark among the presidential hopefuls of both parties, the contrast between the Jay Leno for President campaign and other campaigns is growing more stark. "For every dollar they raise and spend that we don't," explained Howard Lester, "they're proving just how out-of-whack our whole system of presidential elections has become."

"We've spent no money and Jay's more popular than ever. In fact, he hasn't even acknowledged our campaign to draft him. But the Democrats and Republicans will probably spend $2 billion and the best they'll be able to give us is another mediocre president. That's why so many people are joining the campaign to draft Jay Leno: Americans simply can't stomach another mediocre president."