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McCain Takes Letterman's Heat For Snub

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The Associated Press

Published: October 17, 2008

NEW YORK - Sen. John McCain told David Letterman that "I screwed up" by canceling a "Late Show" appearance three weeks ago, then faced a sharp round of questioning about Sarah Palin.

Not willing to risk the wrath of Letterman again, the Republican presidential candidate rented a helicopter to fly to New York after a weather delay grounded his campaign airplane in Philadelphia. He canceled a Sept. 24 appearance during the brief suspension of his campaign because of the economic crisis then taped an interview with CBS's Katie Couric while Letterman taped his show. Letterman has been hammering him since.

The band played The Who's "I Can't Explain" as McCain walked onstage. After he sat down, Letterman asked, "Can you stay?"

"Depends on how bad it gets," McCain shot back.

Although Letterman said he was "willing to put this behind us," he asked McCain hard questions. He asked whether Palin was his first choice as vice president.

"Absolutely," McCain replied. He said he didn't know her well before choosing her, but that he was impressed by her reputation as a reformer.

Letterman pressed McCain repeatedly on her qualifications, asking whether he was confident she could lead the country in a time of crisis.

"In all due respect, one of the people I admired most was an obscure governor of a Southern state called Arkansas and he turned out to be a fairly successful president," McCain said of Bill Clinton.

Letterman asked him about Palin's claim that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama "palled around with terrorists." McCain backed her up, saying Obama needs to better explain his relationship with former Weather Underground activist William Ayers.

PALIN PROMISES ENERGY PUSH

ELON, N.C. - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Thursday that God blessed the nation with oil and gas resources and other forms of energy that should be tapped to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign suppliers. "God has so richly blessed this land, not just with the oil and the gas, but with wind and the hydro, the geothermal and the biomass," Palin said. "We'll tap into those."

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