Despite their stratospheric approval ratings, the Obamas lagged behind Kelly Ripa, of all people, in one bit of recent voting. An Ipsos Public Affairs poll asked adults to say whom of the following they'd choose to share a vacation rental home with them: Ripa, the Obamas, the Jolie-Pitt family, Oprah Winfrey, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. Ripa came in first, with 26 percent of the vote. The Obamas ran second (19 percent), followed by the Jolie-Pitts and Winfrey (16 percent apiece), while Stewart (13 percent) and Colbert (10 percent) were farther behind. And whom would respondents want as their celebrity chef while vacationing? Rachael Ray was the top vote-getter here (32 percent), followed by Paula Deen (27 percent), Wolfgang Puck (15 percent) and Gordon Ramsay (13 percent). Despite his visibility on the Top Chef show, Tom Colicchio finished in a last-place tie with Masaharu Morimoto (6 percent each). Maybe if he brought Padma Lakshmi along as sous chef ...

—Posted by Mark Dolliver