Not many comedy shows would dare do five minutes on the intricacies of Medicare or a relentlessly cheeky piece on President George W. Bush's Thanksgiving trip to Iraq ("A small group of handpicked journalists accompanied the president on his top-secret mission to tell the entire world about his top-secrecy"). His cut-the-crap humor hits the target so consistently - you've gotta love a show that calls its segments on Iraq "Mess O'Potamia" - he's starting to be taken seriously as a political force. The Democratic National Committee announced this month that it plans to invite Stewart & Co. to cover its convention, amazing since "The Daily Show" is actually a fake news program.

... But you know what's really funny about Stewart? The more seriously the world takes him, the more he makes off like he's the Dennis Kucinich of television - amusing, short and not that important. So what if John Edwards announced his presidential candidacy on the show? "No one took it seriously," says Stewart. "After he said, 'I'm announcing that I'm running for president,' I said, 'I have to warn you we are a fake show, so you might have to do this again somewhere'." What about studies that claim young people get a huge portion of their news from late-night comedy? "I just don't think it's possible," he says. "We're on Channel 45 - in New York! Literally on the remote-control journey you could absorb more news than you would get from our show." So that's it, then. All you politicians lining up for face time with Stewart are wasting your breath. "Our politics are fueled by the comedy. We're not a power base in any way. Our show is so reactionary, it's hard to imagine us stimulating the debate," Stewart says. "Maybe I shouldn't be saying this. I'm literally saying, 'Why are you in my office talking to me? I'm nobody'."