Live On Letterman

Last night Barack Obama fulfilled his promise to return to the David Letterman show when or if he decided to run for president. When Letterman introduced him, he received a roaring applause from the New York audience. Letterman said that he believes Clinton and Obama will go head-to-head for the party's nomination and "it will be tremendously exciting."

When telling jokes in the opening, Letterman joked that during one of his lines Obama raised another $25 million during that time. Obama, wearing a suit, atypical of his campaign style, was impressive in his responses. Letterman remarked that he had on a great suit, one which makes him electable and Letterman would vote for.

For anyone who argues he is charismatic but lacks substance, he gave meaty answers on the proposed phased-withdrawl of Iraq, what we've learned there and what he will push for if elected. "We can't be as careless exiting as we were careless entering." One point during the discussion on Iraq, Obama was interrupted by applause from the audience. He reiterated that we cannot stay the course we are currently on.

When Letterman asked about the possibly of an Obama/Clinton ticket, Obama asked in which order and then responded no one is running for second. Letterman also gave him several opportunities to make other candidates look bad, and Obama responded well that there are some great people running and avoided discussing the Clinton spat with David Geffen, saying his constituents aren't worried about that, but rather that they're jobs are moving to China and they have no health care.

When asked if campaiging was taking away from his job as senator, he defended his voting record, noting he's only missed three votes. He did say he would like to get back to Chicago more to see his family.

Additionally, Obama was asked whether he is still smoking, and has said he is now chewing Nicotine gum in an effort to quit. Letterman joked it'd be cool to have a president who smokes and can blow the smoke in people's faces.

Obama made quite an appearance, and his quotes are popping up in every major news outlet. He also managed to fit in three fundraises in New York City that same day, entering Hillary's stomping ground and making a statement that all of New York is not for her.