From combined dispatches
NEW YORK | David Letterman turned into Tim Russert for a night, finally getting Sen. John McCain on his show and giving a sharp round of questioning to the Republican presidential candidate about Gov. Sarah Palin and his campaign tactics.
Mr. McCain had canceled a Sept. 24 “Late Show” appearance during the brief suspension of his campaign because of the economic crisis, and Mr. Letterman has been hammering him ever since.
The band played the Who’s “I Can’t Explain” as Mr. McCain walked onstage at the Ed Sullivan Theater. After he sat down, Mr. Letterman asked, “Can you stay?”
“Depends on how bad it gets,” the senator answered.
Mr. Letterman had replaced Mr. McCain in September with persistent McCain critic Keith Olbermann of MSNBC. Mr. Olbermann was waiting in the wings Thursday - and Mr. McCain had a pained expression when he noticed that.
The comedian came after Mr. McCain hard, repeatedly pressing him on Mrs. Palin’s qualifications. As Mr. Letterman pressed on, Mr. McCain asked, “Have we pretty well exhausted this?”
“No, no,” the CBS host said. “I’m just getting started.”
Mr. Letterman questioned him about Mrs. Palin’s claim that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama “palled around with terrorists,” specifically William Ayers.
“Did you not have a relationship with Gordon Liddy?” Mr. Letterman asked about Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy, going on to ridicule Mr. McCain about the implication that Mr. Obama and Mr. Ayers had a relationship.
“Are they double-dating, are they going to dinner, what are they doing?” Mr. Letterman asked. “Are they driving across country?”
Mr. Letterman said that Mr. Obama was 8 when Mr. Ayers was 29, and Mr. McCain appeared exasperated. “There’s millions of words said in a campaign. C’mon, Dave,” he said.
Mr. McCain did offer one campaign promise that he was probably more likely to keep after he left the stage.
“It’s not the time to raise anybody’s taxes - except yours,” he said to Mr. Letterman. “I guarantee you if I become president, I’ll do it. First executive order.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.