What the Presidential Candidates Are Watching on Television

This week’s issue of TV Guide doesn’t hit newsstands until Thursday, but Matt Drudge has all the exciting details now! While we can’t tell you what time the next Full House rerun will air, we can tell you what shows the major presidential candidates are claiming they watch on television (apparently it’s TV Guide’s Presidential Issue or something). Some highlights:

• Ever the triangulator, Hillary Clinton says she’s a fan of Nielsen family-approved hits like HGTV makeover shows, Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, and Dancing With the Stars.

• Dennis Kucinich stays up late on weeknights to watch the Tonight Show, the Late Show With David Letterman, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report, which is quite ambitious for the Ohio representative since all four shows air during the same hour. (He probably has two TiVos — and awesome pot.)

• John McCain says Prison Break is his favorite show, hilariously adding “because as a fellow prisoner, I always dreamed and plotted how I would break out of the Hanoi Hilton.�

• Barack Obama reaffirms his status on gay rights, naming SpongeBob SquarePants his favorite TV character. Awesomely, he says The Wire is among his all-time favorite shows.

• Democratic cutup John Edwards quips that his guilty pleasure is watching “Fred Thompson on Law & Order.�

• Mitt Romney enjoys Lost because “if you live a busy life, escape is always welcome.� Also, the show’s plot is easier to explain to voters than magic underpants.

• Nothing too cerebral for Fred Thompson — he says he watches ESPN’s SportsCenter “to stay up on my Titans, Vols, Vanderbilt and, of course, my Memphis Tigers,� adding gruffly, “scripted dramas are kind of gay.�

We’ll admit we’re impressed with Obama’s tastes. Still, Vulture will refrain from officially endorsing a candidate until one is brave enough to admit just how great Kid Nation is.

TV Guide: Candidates announce their favorite shows [Drudge Report]