Senator Barack Obama, the great speechmaker and not-so-great speech-er (he too often buries his nose in his notes), showed his lighter side on Letterman last night. It reminded us of the legendary post-2004 SNL appearance by (President) Al Gore, giving everyone the feeling that if he'd just acted like a normal person during the campaign, he'd have easily beaten Bush. Luckily, it may not be too late yet for people to warm up to the Democratic Presidential candidate.

Here's the complete Top Ten from the Late Show:

10. To keep the budget balanced, I’ll rent the situation room for sweet sixteens.

9. I will double your tax money at the craps table.

8. Appoint Mitt Romney secretary of lookin’ good.

7. If you bring a gator to the White House, I’ll wrassle it.

6. I’ll put Regis on the nickel.

5. I’ll rename the tenth month of the year “Barack-tober.”

4. I won’t let Apple release the new and improved Ipod the day after you bought the previous model.

3. I’ll find money in the budget to buy Letterman a decent hairpiece.

2. Pronounce the word nuclear, nuclear.

1. Three words: Vice President Oprah.

He needs all the laughs and publicity he can get. After all, what with the Times endorsement of Hillary, this will not be a good day for him.

For more laughs, see another recent Obama Top Ten List, this one strictly "facts" about him.

[Photo: Associated Press/CBS]