Barack Obama came to town yesterday, both to schmooze donors for money and have a little chat with Dave Letterman. While Times politics guru Adam Nagourney reported Sunday that the senator has been taking a low-key, professorial tack at his recent talks, "lull[ing] his audiences into long, if respectful, silences," the tabs are still writing up the appearance in terms of wild manic excitement: Obama "invaded" New York, as he "swooped" in on a break from his "cash dash" to "gobble up" campaign funds. Okay, sure. And how was he on Letterman? To be honest, we didn't watch, and the clips are already gone from ever-vigilant YouTube. (CBS is a Viacom company, after all.) But our little brother, who was long ago nicknamed the family's Peoria, because he falls for the same things average voters do, once actually saying, "I'd like to have George Bush as my little-league coach," sent this e-mail at 12:20 a.m.: "I don't know if you just saw Obama on Letterman but you cannot be more likable." Hey, if it plays in Peoria …

'I Am a NYer': Obama [NYP]
I'm Not Running for 2nd — Barack [NYDN]