Yeah, I used to be a fan as well. He just looks like he quit trying to do anything original after a while. I came to this conclusion after the 756th night in a row of "Will it Float?"
Dang Dave is still ticked! http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/26/letterman.mccain.rant.ap/index.html NEW YORK (AP) -- David Letterman kept up his verbal assault on John McCain, commiserating with Paris Hilton and saying he felt like an "ugly date" because the GOP presidential candidate backed out of an appearance on the "Late Show." The late-night CBS comedian was upset Wednesday when McCain canceled an appearance to deal with the economic crisis. After backing out of the Letterman show, McCain sat for an interview with Katie Couric, then didn't leave New York until Thursday, further angering Letterman. At first, Letterman said, he felt like a "patriot" to let McCain off. "Now I'm feeling like an ugly date," Letterman said. "I feel used. I feel cheap. I feel sullied." McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace said the campaign "felt this wasn't a night for comedy." "We deeply regret offending Mr. Letterman, but our candidate's priority at this moment is to focus on this crisis," Wallace said Thursday on NBC's "Today." Video Watch Showbiz Tonight talk about Letterman's rant » Later Thursday, Letterman banged away at McCain in his opening monologue. "You're here on a good night," he told the audience. "So far none of our guests have canceled." He talked about daredevil David Blaine's feat of hanging upside-down in New York's Central Park for 60 hours. "They just left the guy hanging there," he said. "It's the same thing McCain did to me last night." He described Hilton -- Thursday's guest whose celebrity was once used in a McCain campaign ad to mock Democrat Barack Obama -- as McCain's first choice for a running mate. "Here's how it works: You don't come to see me? You don't come to see me? Well, we might not see you on Inauguration Day," Letterman said. Noting that McCain wanted to postpone Friday's first debate with Obama, Letterman said running mate Sarah Palin wanted to put off her debate with Democrat Joe Biden until after Election Day. Letterman said Palin's meeting with world leaders at the United Nations was like "take-your-daughter-to-work day." Letterman's Top 10 list was "surprising facts about Sarah Palin," read by citizens of Wasilla, Alaska, where she was once mayor. No. 10: Palin "sometimes calls John McCain grandpa." advertisement Later in the show, Letterman couldn't resist another mention of "that John McCain" while chatting with Hilton, who replied, "I heard he dissed you. He dissed me." Milking the moment, Letterman consoled her: "You had a little run-in with him, too, didn't you?"
I actually think this kind of thing will be more effective in moving the polls than a lot of the other stuff going on. The reason is that these are biting attacks that the politicians just can't do. Columnists do them, but they don't have the wide audience. Here, you have very direct criticisms about McCain's political games and Palin's competence, being aired in a semi-comic, semi-serious way to a very large audience.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09262008/tv/mad_about_letterman_130739.htm MAD ABOUT LETTERMAN MCCAIN VIDEO 'JACKED FROM KATIE Comments: 258Read Comments Leave a Comment By DON KAPLAN Last updated: 1:24 pm September 26, 2008 CBS News executives were red- faced yesterday trying to explain how David Letterman used unaired news footage of Sen. John McCain with Katie Couric to embarrass the Republican presidential candidate. McCain canceled his appearance on Letterman's show late Wednesday, several hours before he was due to appear - claiming he had to return to Washington to deal with the financial crisis. But when Letterman discovered the Senator sitting down with Couric at the same time he was supposed to be taping "Late Night," he unloaded on McCain. "I'm more than a little disappointed by this behavior," Letterman told viewers. "This doesn't smell right." "This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil," he said. Later in the show, Letterman showed an internal, live video of McCain being tended to by a make-up artist before the Couric interview. Both Couric and Letterman are on CBS. Letterman said on the air that McCain had called him personally to apologize and said he was racing to the airport. "He doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he?" Letterman told viewers. "I feel like we've caught him getting a manicure," Letterman quipped, as a make-up woman dabbed at McCain's face. Asked if CBS officials had a problem with Letterman using the internal news feed, a spokeswoman for "The Evening News" refused to address the issue. But several CBS News executives - who asked not to be identified - said that the stunt did not go down well within the news division. "If we had done something like that to him, someone around here would end up getting fired," one said. News officials found out Letterman was using the internal feed shortly after it showed up on an internal CBS feed carrying the "Late Show" taping. "They were pretty aggravated," a CBS News source told The Post. "But they were not about to start a fight with Letterman," the source said. "We're in the middle of a heavy, heavy news cycle and Letterman is Letterman. "He does whatever he wants and always has." McCain spokeswoman Nicole Wallace said that the campaign canceled on Letterman because it "felt this wasn't a night for comedy."
Haha that is kinda funny. Whoever made the decision decided to jack away McCain's airtime but make sure we get some Palin.
For laughs. Palin debate clips on Letterman. Yep, Letterman is still pissed. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iZsO7dZ__iw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iZsO7dZ__iw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10072008/tv/mccain_to_patch_it_up_with_dave_132465.htm MCCAIN TO PATCH IT UP WITH DAVE By DON KAPLAN DAVID Letterman and Sen. John McCain are talking about making up. McCain representatives and "Late Show" executives are negotiating an appearance on Letterman's show sometime around the final presidential debate on Oct. 15, according to knowledgeable sources. McCain is expected to be in the New York area that week for the debate at Hofstra University on Long Island. Representatives for both the McCain campaign and the Letterman show declined to comment yesterday. McCain ticked off Letterman two weeks ago when he abruptly canceled a planned appearance on the late night show several hours before he was due to appear - claiming he had to return to Washington to deal with the financial crisis. Letterman said on the air that McCain had called him personally to apologize and said he was racing to the airport. But when Letterman producers discovered the Senator sitting down with Katie Couric at the same time he was supposed to be taping "The Late Show," Letterman unloaded on McCain - and has continued to rip the Senator and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, every night since. In a bid to embarrass the Republican presidential candidate, Letterman even aired an internal CBS News feed of McCain getting make-up applied to his face as he waited for the Couric interview to begin. "He doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he?" Letterman asked viewers. "I feel like we've caught him getting a manicure," Letterman quipped, as a make-up woman dabbed at McCain's face.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/15/AR2008101503419.html Will Gloves Come Off When McCain Faces Letterman? By Lisa de Moraes Thursday, October 16, 2008; Page C07 Presidential candidate John McCain gets his second on-air grilling this week when he has his makeup date with David Letterman tonight, a day after debating Democratic candidate Barack Obama. TV industry navel-gazers are anticipating big numbers for Letterman, who for the past three weeks has knocked himself out ginning up a feud with McCain. It all started last month when the GOP candidate backed out of an appearance on the show, telling the late-night host personally that the economy was in such a state of crisis that he was suspending his political campaign and had to rush back to Washington. Only McCain, who had announced his candidacy on "The Late Show" way back when, did not, in fact, rush back to the capital. Instead he rushed over to the "CBS Evening News" studio to be interviewed by Katie Couric, then stayed the night in Manhattan and spoke at a conference there the next day. Letterman, a wily old guy, smelled ratings and declared war. Feud-ginning is a time-honored talk-show tradition, sometimes generating huge ratings spikes. Letterman already has enjoyed a ratings boost of sorts when word of McCain's cancellation got out, but his CBS show's numbers settled back down. As they went down, the aggression went up. ad_icon That first night, when McCain canceled, Letterman threw up the CBS in-house video feed showing the senator from Arizona getting his makeup touched up pre-Couric chat. "Now he doesn't seem to be racing back to the airport, does he?" Letterman sneered to his fill-in guest, Keith Olbermann. "I wonder if he'll mention me. Hey, John! I've got a question -- you need a ride to the airport?" By last week, Letterman was noting after watching the second presidential debate: "I like John McCain, but wandering around onstage there, he looked like a retiree who couldn't find his Buick." This week, Letterman has been dishing it out with a shovel. There have been the top-10 list of Ways John McCain Can Turn It Around, and the monologues: "John McCain says he's going to win . . . the third presidential debate. Of course, he also told Custer the surge was working." "John McCain is going to take this opportunity to unveil his new campaign personality, to really energize the last couple of weeks of the campaign: Fighting Underdog. . . . And if that doesn't work, then he's going to go to Sadistic Yard Bull. . . . And then Priest Who Tries to Communicate with Martians. . . . And then the Archaeologist Who Scoffs at the Mummy's Curse." Last night, Letterman continued to chew away manically at McCain, like a hound in a double-breasted suit working over a particularly good bone. He added "Deformed Bell Ringer" and "b****y Male Flight Attendant" to the list of new McCain campaign personalities. Letterman's archrival, Jay Leno, taking note of Dave's antics, tried to quash them. He's booked Dem veep candidate Joe Biden for tonight, and, Monday, Leno teased his audience with the idea that maybe, just maybe, presidential candidate Barack Obama himself might show up for Leno's NBC show, which is taped in Burbank, Calif. If Obama does show, it will have to be via satellite, given that he's scheduled to attend, and is highly unlikely to cancel on, the annual Alfred E. Smith dinner white-tie charity roast in New York, run by the Archdiocese of New York to raise money for underprivileged children. Both he and McCain are scheduled to speak; both parties' presidential candidates have appeared at the event every four years, almost without fail, since 1945.
McCain to Letterman: ‘I Screwed Up’ By Brian Stelter He made it. After a high-flying adventure, Senator John McCain finally sat down next to David Letterman on the set of “The Late Show” on Thursday and offered his mea culpa: “I screwed up.” Anyone following Mr. McCain or watching Mr. Letterman knew exactly what Mr. McCain meant. Last month, stating that he needed to get to Washington to weigh in on the financial bailout package, Mr. McCain begged off a scheduled appearance on Mr. Letterman’s program. And Mr. Letterman has not let him forget it ever since, hammering away at him night after night in a prolonged show of pique that not-so-coincidentally is likely to drive the ratings through the roof when the program airs tonight. Mr. McCain walked on the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theatre, the site of “The Late Show,” in New York around 5:20 p.m. Eastern. Mr. Letterman immediately asked: “Can you stay?” “Yes, sir,” Mr. McCain said, and adjusted himself in the chair. He quickly added: “Depends on how bad it gets.” Then Mr. McCain jokingly said that he asked his son in the Marine Corps to FedEx his flak jacket in preparation for the visit. Mr. Letterman got right to it: “So what happened?” Mr. McCain answered: “I screwed up.” After the audience applauded, he continued, “Look at all the conversation I gave you. Including having Mr. Olbermann on.” (The MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann filled in for Mr. McCain at the last minute on Sept. 24. On Thursday, Mr. Olbermann was shown standing backstage, ready to appear again if the candidate had not arrived.) Mr. McCain added: “I haven’t had so much fun since my last interrogation.” As Mr. Letterman pressed for details, Mr. McCain repeated the “screwed up” line. Mr. Letterman segued, saying “I’m willing to put this behind us.” Mr. McCain observed that “there’s going to be a kind of sad feeling around here when the election takes place.” Mr. Letterman asked Mr. McCain about Wednesday’s debate, and before long, Joe the plumber was brought up. “Joe, if you’re watching, I’m sorry,” Mr. McCain said, referring to the media attention that the Ohio man had received. Mr. McCain said he has not spoken to Joe yet. Mr. McCain then talked about the economic downturn and described the anger many people feel and the hardships many families are experiencing. “They’re the victims of a drive-by shooting by Washington and Wall Street,” he said. “Now’s not the time to raise anybody’s taxes except yours, and I guarantee when I’m president, I’ll do it.” He added: “My first executive order!” Asked by Mr. Letterman whether Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska was his “first choice” for vice president, Mr. McCain said “absolutely.” He added: “I didn’t know her well at all. I knew her reputation.” Mr. Letterman pressed Mr. McCain on Ms. Palin’s preparation for the office of president, and asked whether she was “the woman to lead us through the next 9/11 attack.” “Absolutely” she is, Mr. McCain said. “She has inspired Americans. That’s the thing we need.” Mr. Letterman also asked if Ms. Palin had said that Senator Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists.” Mr. McCain started to say he didn’t know, then said “Yes. And he did.” Then Mr. Letterman raised Mr. McCain’s relationship with G. Gordon Liddy. “I’ve met him,” Mr. McCain said. After a segment break, he followed up: “I know Gordon Liddy. He paid his debt, he went to prison, he paid his debt.” Mr. Letterman asked whether Ms. Palin was going to appear on “Saturday Night Live.” “I think she is, yeah,” he said. “Probably get more of an audience than our debate did.” Mr. McCain almost did not make it to the program — again. His campaign plane was turned around after officials at Newark Liberty International Airport said there were landing delays of nearly two hours. The plane, with the traveling press corps, stayed behind in Philadelphia and Mr. McCain was whisked to New York on a helicopter. The campaign plane followed soon afterward. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/mccain-to-letterman-i-screwed-up/
I just watched. Dave didn't seem to be on the McCain team. He kept coming back to the Palin pick (as in are you sure she is qualified) and brought up Liddy to show McCain has some shaky relationships as well. Before mentioning Liddy Letterman noted that sometimes ya can't control who you know. I thought McCain responded well by noting he has no problem being open about who he knows...but Dave's point got across IMO.
All that restraint by Obama now gives him a lot of cards. Lehman's crash and burn was unexpected, but I'm pretty sure any other Dem candidate would've ploddingly brought out the Liddy link right when the Ayers ad hit its peak. Really... this financial crisis is making all of Obama's plans look like genius. Now there's a fresh news cycle to influence independents with the noose McCain just hung himself with. And Obama appears blameless. Any bets on its impact in terms of # of new stories about Liddy?
I don't understand, especially with all the talk of plumbers after the last debate, why McCain w/ Liddy hasn't been picked up more widely. How does this differ with McCain's parsing of Obama/Ayers "guy in neighborhood" to "guy in neighborhood on same education charities." On Letterman, first McCain claimed he had only "met" him. Then Letterman pressed him on the McCain fundraiser at Liddy's home. (There's also recent tape of McCain on Liddy's show praising Liddy's morality/values as being what makes America great.) McCain had to backtrack after the commercial, and claimed Liddy's paid his debt to society. I don't understand: once a terrorist, always a _________? Liddy attempted to subvert American democracy on behalf of the Nixon administration, bugging the Democratic party's headquarters. He's responsible for stealing the medical files of Daniel Ellsberg, a political opponent. Liddy argued for the assassination of reporters he deemed antagonists of the Nixon administration. He wanted to fire bomb Brookings. He volunteered to assassinate Howard Hunt, one of Nixon's men, while both were in jail, so that he wouldn't rat. (Thankfully, he was overruled on the last three.) How do I know this? It's in Liddy's bloody autobiography. You can try to support him with a Nuremberg defense, only following orders, but that's belied: twenty years later he was on air describing how to kill ATF federal agents if they were lawfully fulfilling search warrants on the listeners' property. Liddy is no better than Ayers, with the only distinction being that he was a terrorist working from within our government, not in opposition to it, and came a lot closer than Ayers to destroying our way of life. Why it takes a variety show host to press this obvious rebuttal question (and Ayers equivalence) and not the mainstream press frustrates me.
McCain handled the Liddy talk all wrong. Clearly he should have quickly said, "Dave, the American people want to talk about the economy..." and moved on.
Still, theres a right way to be a hypocrite. And a wrong way to be one. If he said "lets focus on economy", even though he seems like a hypocrite at least he's worried about the right things.
