Popular culture and politics are, indeed, strange bedfellows. Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry appeared last night on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman and treated viewers by reading the Top Ten List. Kerry has also appeared on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart. According to AP reports, candidate Kerry wasn't all laughs last night:

The Massachusetts senator spent much of his appearance discussing serious topics ranging from global warming to the beheading of an American hostage in Iraq. He talked about where he thinks the president has gone wrong in Iraq and what changes he would make as commander in chief.

Since Clinton, late night talk shows have been regularly scheduled stops for political hopefuls. In fact, Kerry's running mate, the senior Senator from North Carolina, threw his hat into the Democratic presidential primary race on The Daily Show. Jay Leno had the pleasure of hosting the Arnold when he announced he was running for governor of California. It's one thing, DCist believes, to pimp yourself out on one of the late night shows, but entirely uncalled for to hit Live with Regis and Kelly, as Kerry did this morning. Kerry's poll numbers can't be that bad, can they?