This whole “picking a president” thing has been gangbusters for cable news. Debates sent ratings soaring! Keith Olbermann is totally the man! Glenn Beck is still a crazy person! But what’s driving all this interest from American TV watchers, who can usually be described as “lazy,” “uninterested,” and “not even watching TV”?

Talking heads! So let’s peek at some of the most in-demand names that are fueling the television economy and, for all we know, supporting terrorism.

TV Week’s Michele Greppi talks to the cable bookers to find out who’s the best green room guest (McCain), who’s the hardest to book (Cheney), and who arrives with a rider longer than Mariah Carey (Giuliani).

MAKING THE LONG ROAD TO THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FEEL EVEN LONGER

Leading vote-getter: Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean (“He’s stuck in the middle” of the party muddle); “so many unresolved issues,” including Michigan and Florida and the super-delegates (“I feel like I’m in ‘Groundhog Day,’” summed up one respondent); daily conference calls and counter-conference calls by the campaigns (“They go on and on. It wears you down. Both campaigns are working the ref.”).

THE BIGGEST GET

Leading vote-getters: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Obama, who are fighting it out in an unexpectedly unpredictable contest for their party’s presidential nomination.

UNDER THE MISTAKEN IMPRESSION THAT THEY ARE THE BIGGEST GET

Leading vote-getter: Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., long known for being drawn like a moth to the television spotlight.

THE HARDEST TO GET

Leading vote-getter: Vice President Dick Cheney. “He doesn’t give a s***. He’s checked out,” said one respondent. “I don’t know what he does all day,” said another.

PLAYS HARDEST TO GET

Leading vote-getter: Former Clinton White House aide Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., once more visible on newsmaker shows and now “always uses the family excuse” to avoid appearing and stay behind the scenes. (“He is playing an inside game, not an outside game.”)

SURE TO MAKE THE MOST NEWS

Leading vote-getters: Any presidential candidate; Bill Clinton, who “makes headlines every time he speaks,” which is probably why he’s not accepting any newsmaker interviews.

DOESN’T MAKE THE NEWS THEY PROBABLY SHOULD

Leading vote-getter: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “never says anything.” “Everybody got really tired of the spin.”

MAKES THE MOST EFFECTIVE USE OF NEWSMAKER SHOWS

Leading vote-getter: Sen. Biden “always brings stuff to the table.”

STAR OF THE GREEN ROOM

Leading vote-getters: Sen. McCain, long a favorite with the people who have to book and moderate newsmaker shows for his accessibility (“He’s great in a green room. He remembers everybody’s name.”); former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (“He had the best time talking to staffers, telling jokes.”). The gregarious Gov. Huckabee is now being represented by CAA.

HIGHEST MAINTENANCE

Leading vote-getters: Rudolph Giuliani (“Is [wife] Judith coming or is she not coming?”); Rep. Pelosi (“won’t come to the studio,” “wants the grandeur of her Speaker’s office,” “the queen—spare me”).

EASIEST TO DEAL WITH

Leading vote-getter: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is “always very accommodating.”

[TV Week]