Daytime TV as Campaign Stop

You know where they stand on gas prices, but what about pantsuits and family pets? Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama are making the rounds of daytime talk shows and celebrity gossipfests, courting "low-info" voters—those mostly white, working class, and undecided folks who haven't been paying much attention to the campaign. And besides pulling in millions more viewers than Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, softer shows also go easier on guests, reports Newsweek.

The key demographic tunes into shows like "The View" and "Access Hollywood" to judge a candidate's likability, not his or her policy positions. Candidates can relax and pretend to be just like us. "Brian Williams isn't going to ask about their hair coloring," said the exec producer of "Access." "We will, because that's what our audience is interested in." (More Barack Obama stories.)