“IT'S CALLED GOSSIP AND OF COURSE IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE” -ANDY WARHOL

Pop culture references in campaigns haven't always involved celebrities. Walter Mondale in a 1984 debate took the inventive step of channeling a well-known commercial. Of rival Democrat Gary Hart's policies, he asked: "Where's the beef?" It was, of course, the slogan of the classic Wendy's ad. And as far back as 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower used newfangled Walt Disney animation in a groundbreaking TV ad — still viewable on YouTube — for his campaign against Adlai Stevenson.

But arguably the most famous pop culture reference in a campaign — exquisite in its succinctness — was Richard Nixon's 1968 four-word appearance on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," intoning the show's catch phrase, "Sock it to me?" (Nixon added the question mark.) He defeated Hubert Humphrey, who producers apparently couldn't get.
By 1992, candidate Bill Clinton knew how valuable it would be to play the saxophone on "The Arsenio Hall Show." And these days, it's a virtual rite of passage for candidates to appear on the late-night shows — sometimes, they even announce their candidacies on them.They don't simply chat. They duly appear in "Saturday Night Live" skits, read out David Letterman's often humiliating Top Ten lists, or suffer through partisan questioning, in McCain's case, from "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart.