NEW YORK – It was banter with an edge.

Sen. John Kerry stopped by David Letterman’s set Monday for a chat, presenting – in grand campaign tradition – his own Top Ten list and cracking wise about some of the last-minute snags in striking a deal for presidential debates.

“Lot of fun. It was wonderful,” he told donors at a $4 million Democratic Party fund-raiser a couple of hours before air time.

Candidates submit to the late-night TV ritual for a number of reasons – to show they’re good sports, to let their hair down and to reach younger voters. In Kerry’s bid for a higher likability quotient, he also planned to sit down Tuesday morning on “Live with Regis and Kelly.”

On “The Late Show” with David Letterman, Kerry poked fun at President Bush and at himself, delivering a Top Ten list of mock Bush tax proposals.

And Letterman set Kerry up for another jest at the president’s expense, prodding the Democrat for details of haggling over the presidential debates.

“I wanted to have John Edwards stand. Dick Cheney wanted to sit,” the senator said.

“And they compromised and now they’re gonna squat? Is that what I heard?” Letterman said.

“Well, we compromised and now George Bush is gonna sit on Dick Cheney’s lap,” Kerry said.