Hillary Clinton and Jay Leno

Thursday's Tonight Show began with a cold open.

Hillary Clinton was at a desk. The screen was time-stamped 3:00 AM. And of course, the phone rang. It was Jay Leno, asking Hillary to appear on the show. She agreed and hung up. The punchline was Hillary saying she needed to get caller ID.

After Leno's monologue and a "Jaywalking" segment, Hillary Clinton came out for the interview, the Rocky theme playing in the background.

Her opening line: She said she was worried she wasn't going to make it. She joked that she was pinned down by sniper fire.

Then she said the whole "Bosnia sniper fire" incident was just a lapse. The audience bought that.

Hillary seemed very relaxed throughout.

She and Leno talked issues. First, it's the economy, stupid.

"Unfortunately, we have such a stupid economy," Hillary said.

She said that President Bush wasn't interested in doing anything about it. She said hopefully we can survive until he's gone. The audience applauded.

Hillary talked about ending "No child left behind." The audience cheered.

She started to babble a bit. It seemed like she was on auto-pilot and stumping. Not too entertaining. When Hillary is just chatting, she's much more engaging than when she prattles about policy.

After the commercial break, Leno asked Hillary about Chelsea. He brought up that Chelsea said she thought her mom would make a better president than her dad.

Hillary replied, "She's such a smart, young woman."

The audience laughed.

Leno mentioned Bill Clinton getting red-faced and flipping out when he's on the campaign trail for Hillary. He told a personal story that related to family members supporting their loved ones when they come under fire. Early in his career, when Leno would get heckled, his dad would become angry at the hecklers.

Hillary equated Leno's dad with Bill. When you love someone, it's natural to have trouble holding back.

Hillary said, "He's doing a great job for me, but he does get a little carried away sometimes."

Leno brought up the Michigan and Florida situation.

Hillary argued that the Dem voters of Michigan and Florida shouldn't be disenfranchised. She suggested that if their primary votes aren't counted, then they won't turn out in November. Leno challenged her about the Democrat Party rules, but he let that go.

There were definitely people in the audience acting as cheerleaders for Hillary, leading applause.

Then they talked about super delegates and their role in the nomination process.

At the end of the interview, Leno said, "Well listen, it's great to sit on the sidelines and watch this battle go on."

Hillary added, "It's quite a battle royal."

Leno concluded, "I give you a lot of credit. You got a lot more moxie than I do. God bless you."

Hillary ended the segment with her signature laugh.

Leno did a good job. He treated Hillary with respect.

From past interviews that he's done with the insane Obama-worshipper Chris Matthews, I get the feeling that Leno is in awe of Barack Obama, too. On a number of occasions, I've heard Leno play down the Rev. Wright controversy with other guests.

If Leno is an Obama backer, as I suspect he is, he didn't let it show during the interview with Hillary.

Leno also shows John McCain a great deal of respect when he's a guest on the show.

That's as it should be.