Team Obama Joins Team Leno?!

White House Correspondents Association confirms the derided late-night host will emcee annual event thanks to ill-timed decision made weeks ago

By Gina Serpe Jan 22, 2010 3:30 PMTags
Barack Obama, Jay LenoPaul Drinkwater/NBC

Timing is everything. Unfortunately, the White House's stinks.

How else to explain why President Obama's crew thought it would be a good idea to enlist Jay Leno—the reigning Most Hated Man in Prime Time Late Night—as the emcee of this year's White House Correspondents Association dinner?

Granted, the organization made the decision to hire the comic several weeks ago, when CoCo fever hadn't even started, let alone reached fever pitch. And the group no doubt felt it was making a moderately safe and relatively under-the-radar choice with Leno, a comic who, up until a couple weeks ago, didn't have a controversial bone in his body.

Cut to today, when even Stephen Colbert would have seemed like a more measured option.

Still, Leno is nothing if not professional, and has the advantage of already having hosted the bash three times before, in 1987, 2000 and 2004, under administrations for both parties.

And if nothing else, Leno's hiring is good news for at least two people (not counting the writing staff of The Late Show With David Letterman, that is): If nothing else, it guarantees that, come May, the Salahis will no longer have the distinction of being the only unwanted visitors at the White House.

Though the administration at least had the good sense not to invite them in the first place.

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So that takes care of Jay's future. If you're wondering how Conan's going to spend the next couple of months, head over to Answer Bitch, who has all the A's for your Q's.