David Letterman to John McCain: 'Now, what exactly happened?'

Sen. John McCain tried today to make amends with David Letterman, telling the late-night comedian that he “screwed up” when he stood him up last month to focus on the country’s economic crisis.

McCain’s appearance on “Late Show” –- his 13th time on the CBS program –- came after Letterman mocked him incessantly for three weeks.

The Republican presidential nominee took extra precautions to ensure that he made today’s long-awaited visit, traveling by helicopter from Philadelphia to skirt a weather delay, fearful that another cancellation would further enflame the host.

When the candidate walked onto the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater, he pretended to cower in fear as Letterman strode over to greet him.

“Can you stay?” the comedian asked, as McCain settled in his chair.

“Yes, sir,” responded McCain. He then added with a wary grin, “Depends on how bad it gets.”

The Arizona senator said he had asked his son, who is in the Marine Corps, to FedEx him his helmet and flak jacket for the occasion, “but it didn’t get here on time.”

McCain had reason to be nervous. He was supposed to make an appearance Sept. 24 on “Late Show” but canceled at the last minute. At the time, he told the comedian that he was racing to catch a plane to return to Washington to deal with the burgeoning financial crisis.

But Letterman was steamed to discover that McCain in fact remained in New York another day. Instead of visiting the “Late Show” studio in Manhattan that afternoon, the GOP presidential hopeful made a stop at CBS News several blocks away to give an interview to Katie Couric.

When he learned of McCain’s whereabouts, an indignant Letterman patched into a live feed of the Couric interview during his show and shouted at the television monitor: “Hey John, I got a question! You need a ride to the airport?”

The incident ruptured a long-amiable relationship between the two men, who at one time had been so friendly that McCain chose Letterman’s show as the forum to announce his 2008 presidential bid.

But Letterman appeared deeply offended by McCain’s behavior.

The day after the senator stood him up, the comedian told his audience that when McCain first told him he had to cancel to deal with the economic meltdown, “I felt like a patriot.”

“I was going to help in my own little way get this economy out of the crater,” he said. “And now I’m just feeling like an ugly date.  That’s what I feel like. I feel like an ugly date. I feel used. I feel cheap. I feel sullied.”

At today’s taping, Letterman got straight to the point.

“Now, what exactly happened?” he asked McCain. “I got to think maybe I’m just not important enough.”

“Can I give you an answer?” responded the senator. “I screwed up.” He shrugged his hands apologetically, adding: “But look at all the conversation I gave you.”

“Well, I’m willing to put this behind us,” Letterman said.

The candidate appeared visibly relieved. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you very much,” he said.

Still, Letterman wasn’t ready to let him off the hook.

“I want your friend Sarah Palin here,” he said. “And if you’re in the White House, I want to be the guy who sits in the outer office, reading magazines.”

“Is this a shakedown or a ransom?” asked McCain with a chuckle.

The conversation quickly turned seriously as Letterman pressed him about his choice of a running mate and the tone of his campaign, questioning McCain's attacks on Sen. Barack Obama.

McCain did his best to project a calm, even-keeled demeanor throughout the 20-minute conversation, though he forcefully rejected Letterman’s suggestion that Alaska Gov. Palin was not qualified to assume the presidency or “lead us through the next 9/11 attack.”

“She has inspired Americans," McCain said. "That’s the thing we need.”

It remains to be seen whether today’s encounter will be enough to persuade the comedian to let up his barrage of jabs at the Republican candidate.

In the last several weeks, Letterman has made McCain and his running mate his central targets. He ridiculed McCain as old and out-of-touch, saying that at last week’s debate, he “looked like a retiree who couldn’t find his Buick.”

He derided Palin as a lightweight, saying, “To improve her foreign policy experience, she recently went to the International House of Pancakes.”

For all the buzz that Letterman’s stinging rebukes have attracted, the attention does not seem to have lifted his ratings. From Sept. 22 through Oct. 5, the most recent data available, “Late Show” averaged 3.79 million viewers, down 1% from the same period last year. And during the week of Sept. 29, the second week of Letterman’s tirade against McCain, the program’s average viewership was 3.63 million, down from 3.94 million the week before.

Despite the pounding he received, McCain appeared determined to return to Letterman’s program today, hoping to smooth things over. When his campaign plane was delayed for two hours at the Philadelphia airport this afternoon, an aide announced that McCain had chartered a helicopter to get to New York for the show, saying it was important for McCain to be there on time.

Thirty minutes later, a navy blue helicopter with thin gold stripes swooped down next to McCain’s plane.

Steve Duprey, McCain’s close friend and frequent traveling companion, said McCain felt it was important to keep his commitment to Letterman.

Asked why McCain still felt obligated after he’d been bashed by Letterman for three weeks, Duprey shrugged and said: "He didn't care."

"We moved heaven and earth for Mr. Letterman,” Duprey joked to reporters after they watched McCain disappear into the Philadelphia sky. “I thought we should call him up and say, ‘Dave, we have a problem’ ... and send a [McCain] cut-out over.”

-- Matea Gold and Maeve Reston

(Photo courtesy AP)

Comments

[Disgusted Democrats]

Letterman really lost our respect and affection with his whiny grinding of McCain. He was obviously trying for ratings. SNL dealt with Obama no-showing them under the ridiculous excuse of the hurrican in the south. Surely Dave can be a big boy and deal with dynamic shifting priorities.

Also he made his political beliefs evident and turned the show into a campaign platform for Obama which was SO inappropriate.

[former fans]

David Letterman totally abused his position and hi-jacked the public airwaves for his personal ambition

These are serious times, Dave - it's not a game and you don't have the right to hi-jack airwaves to bash ANY candidate

Won't be watching Letterman anymore.

[Tom]

What a jerk Letterman is....

I've never liked the smarmy goof. He's just not funny and when his joke writer's gags fall flat, his reliance on bizarre facial ticks and repetitive gobble-de-gook only makes him more foolish and childish. For Letterman to continue to hammer Mr. McCain for his reticence to appear on Lame Night is further proof that CBS pays this homer far too much. His time is over, get rid of him.

And while they're at it, what the heck is the deal with Conan? Another freak-show lame-o has been...they should both stick to behind the scenes gag writing.

Oh, and I think McCain is a jerk too.

Have a nice night!

[ster]

Dave is a comedian. Katie (as biased as she is) is a news person.
Sorry Dave, you're the jester.
We know you think you're all that, but in the end, you're a comedian/jester.
Sorry, but the news is more important than you.
My apologies that your little ego was hurt. LOL!

[Larry Wolford]

If there was a Congressional Medal of Honor for Courageous Comedians and Humorists, Dave should get it . Bravo Dave for exposing this ancient political hack.

[Gimme]

McCain lied. Period. Dave had full justification as far as I'm concerned.

[Anastasia]

I think it's silly that anyone, especially a candidate for President of the United States, should feel like they "owe" David Letterman anything!

Why does Letterman think he's so important? It's ridiculous and incredibly arrogant. It should be an honor, even for a "star" like Letterman to even to be around Senator Obama or Senator McCain.

[Jeff]

McCain deserved everything and more Letterman has been giving him. McCain was the darling of these talk show hosts for year. Now he bashes the media, although he's the problem, not the media. No more free pass for McCain -- he's just another politician, not a "maverick."

[Steve]

I saw Dave's first lambasting of McCain on YouTube and it was very funny. It convinced me to start watching TV again, just for his show.

[bobt]

“To improve her foreign policy experience, Palin recently went to the International House of Pancakes.”
.. that's a riot!!!!

[mavisdarling]

He hijacked the airwaves? What kind of insipid response is that?? It's a COMEDY show, folks. We don't live in a police state where only certain views are allowed over the airwaves. So what if Dave is biased? He's not a news journalist, and it's HIS show, he can say whatever he wants. If McCain was stupid enough to be on the show, then I guess he better take his licks.

If Dave hijacked the airwaves, then what exactly is it called when Rush Limbaugh does HIS on-air diatribes, might I ask?

Geez, you people have the reasoning capacity of five-year-olds. In fact, ANYBODY who thinks McCain is a good candidate has the reasoning capacity of a five-year-old. I doubt very much if Letterman cares that you won't be watching his show anymore. Sometimes the integrity of our country is more important than TV ratings!! And Dave knows that.

Thank you Dave. You have my vote!

[Rob Larrikin]

Dave Letterman is obviously going through a late mid-life crisis. It's time he retired.

Kudos for John McCain on having the guts to go on that show again.

I'm sure that since then, as Dave saw the global financial crisis unfold, he realized what a colossal fool he was to think McCain should ignore a possible Great Depression just to satisfy a jester's whim's.

It’s pretty pathetic when jesters get to whip Presidential candidates for not paying enough attention to them during times of war.

[JJSC]

Hmmmmm, lets see McCain lied to Letterman "Oh, I'm headed to Washington to fix the economy." Guess he forgot about the "after I make a few self promotional stops." If Dave had just let it drop McCain would've never done the show again. The only reason he went back on the show was because Letterman was hammering away on him. Its a desperate act from a desperate and failing campaign. McCain doesn't get it- people don't care about Ayers, they do want politicians that will tell them the truth. McCain lied to Letterman, and he lies to the American people. That's why he is losing.

[Larry M]

I stopped watching Letterman recently, not out of protest but out of boredom. His cheap shots at McCain's expennse are merely add-ons to his cheap shot at Bush. He needs tofreshen up his act, and project an even hand in lhis targets.

I'll watch tonight because of McCain's appearance. But, then I go back to Leno whenever I stay up late with the TV (which is becoming less and less often). His stuff is fresher.

Letterman is a one-trick pony whose pony is leaving office in January. If McCain isn't elected, I can't see him making jokes at Obama's expense. Watch the ratings drop more.

[No More GOP]

No more GOP. I respected McCain's jokes at the Al Smith dinner tonight, but I guess that's why he is so good at it. He, and Governer Palin, are a joke. Our country needs real leadership; Obama-Biden will turn this country around and make us the proud leader of the free world once again.

[trent]

Looks like Dave knows how to forgive and John knows how to apologize.

[Alan Zegas]

David Letterman is a true New Yorker. When McCain not only failed to show up, but lied to Letterman about his reasons for not appearing on his show, Dave took him on directly for lying. In so doing, Dave has been at the top of his form. He called McCain on his lie and did not relent, causing the public to question, for good reason, the integrity of McCain. Though I had concern about Letterman permitting McCain back on his show after having been lied to, reading the summary of McCain's appearance reinforces Dave's integrity: he did not let McCain off the hook, but asked him difficult questions and pressed for answers in a way that most seasoned political interviewers could not do as effectively.

[Joe (non-plumber)]

> “She has inspired Americans," McCain said. "That’s the thing we need.”

What, with "mere rhetoric"? I seem to recall you being a bit harsh about the other inspirational guy. Then again, while the rest of us are inspired to see Obama living the American dream of becoming a somebody when you were born a nobody (Obama's parents were on food stamps; his grandparents herded goats in Africa), the only thing Obama seems to inspire on the right is vitriol. I mean, really, putting "waterboard Obama" on an official GOP site? How low can you go? (And do I even want to know?)

[Sandra S]

McCain said he was 'having fun'. He doesn't seem to be having fun when he is confronted at debates and asked serious questions. Well, I think the future of our country is serious business and we need serious people like Obama and the cabinet he will have, not an old man out for a joy-ride to satisfy his ego with one last hurrah before he retires. I don't think you're very funny Mr. McCain. And David Letterman, you have shown yourself to be a crybaby who had his toy taken away and shuts up when the pacifier is put back in your mouth. Jeez.

[bugsmomma@mchsi.com]

I agree with you all about the disrespect and not funny.Money does not make you respectable or
funny on these shows. Thank you for the views. I watch less than I used to.