TV

Neither the two Democratic presidential candidates nor the former candidate sat down for a satirical grilling from Mr. Colbert. Instead, each took part in a scripted comic bit. So, on that basis and that basis only -- judging only in terms of laugh-provoking entertainment value and not partisan political point-scoring -- the clear winner of last night's three-fer was ... John Edwards.

The advantage of no longer running for president is that you can loosen up and have fun, and Mr. Edwards (and the writers of the Colbert Report) took full advantage as he delivered a special edition of the show's nightly segment, "Word." Repackaged as "EdWords," the former South Carolina senator had extended fun with the question everyone is asking: who is he going to support in the election. He let it be known that his choice may be determined by whichever candidate presents him with a new jet ski -- actually, his wife will want one to so "better make that two jet skis." He made a few more demands, too, such as "I want my face on money and secret service protection for my dogs." He also wants to be a spy, sent on missions to some beautiful tropical paradise where he can get involved in cool stuff "like jet ski chases."

The show opened with an appearance by Hillary Clinton charging on to the set to save the show from some technical snafu and Barack Obama appeared via video feed to close the show by tapping into another recurring show segment and putting "manufactured political distractions" on notice. Out came the "On Notice" board, with Stephen graciously letting the Illinois senator choose which current on-notice offender to take off the board. Playing to the host and his audience, Mr. Obama said "we can't take off Grizzly bears (the bane of Stephen's existence) because they're the number-one threat to America. So let's take off James Brady, he's a good guy."

Actually, the big winner of the night was Stephen Colbert. All three of the top Democratic figures in current presidential politics not only stopped by but appeared as supporting players in his ongoing reality-based sitcom. The titan of truthiness is a man on fire.