From Cheney to Laura Bush, the administration is all over TV

WASHINGTON -- Once it was rare for Washington bigwigs to risk their dignity for laughs on TV talk shows. Now the Hollywood route is routine, safe even for talk about somber issues like terrorism.

Vice President Dick Cheney jokes with Jay Leno about hiding in his undisclosed location. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld chuckles as David Letterman's mom urges him to "put the hammer" on Osama bin Laden.

First lady Laura Bush made light of the president's tussle with a pretzel when she appeared on Leno's "Tonight Show" last week. He's practicing "safe snacks" now, she cracked.

And Secretary of State Colin Powell fielded questions on MTV, upsetting some conservatives when he endorsed condoms for sexually active young people.

Republicans who scoffed as Bill Clinton blazed political trails through popular culture now accept chats with Regis, Oprah, Jay and Dave as proper political discourse.

The Bush administration -- from George W. Bush's frequent campaign stops on comedy shows to this month's round of appearances by top officials -- shows the trend is here to stay.

"What Clinton proved is television is television, and celebrity is celebrity and it doesn't matter where you get it," said Marlin Fitzwater, White House press secretary when Bush's father was president.

In the 1992 presidential race, when Clinton made headlines by donning dark glasses to play saxophone on Arsenio Hall's show, Fitzwater advised then-President Bush to stay off such programs to preserve his dignity.

"I was wrong," Fitzwater says now.

Indeed, Bush seemed stodgy as Clinton skated from "Good Morning America" to late-night talk to MTV, even chatting about his youthful experience with marijuana. Meanwhile, the race's wild card, Ross Perot, launched his campaign on "Larry King Live."

'Sock it to me?'

Earlier presidents had tested the waters -- even Richard Nixon.

After a couple of bruising election defeats, Nixon lightened his image by playing piano on Jack Paar's program. And just weeks before winning the White House in 1968, Nixon delivered a single, stiff line on "Laugh-In": "Sock it to me?"

Entertainment shows court candidates by offering free air time, often unedited. When Bush appeared on Leno's "Tonight Show" during the campaign, he got more time in one night than during the entire month on NBC News, said Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs.

"I don't think the word 'dignity' is relevant anymore," Lichter said. "The human touch is what counts, and if you can get that by chatting with Jay Leno, that's fine."