John McCain Cancels Letterman Appearance, Keith Olbermann Fills In

Update: In addition to repeatedly mocking McCain for skipping out on his scheduled appearance Wednesday, Letterman also devoted, fittingly, his nightly top 10 list to the subject of "Questions People Are Asking The McCain Campaign." Number Five: "Are You Doing All This Just To Get Out Of Going On Letterman?"

Watch the clip:

Update: Drudge reports that Letterman mocked McCain during the show's taping Wednesday afternoon.

"In the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?"

Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she?"

"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"

Watch a clip of Letterman's comments -- the best material starts at about 5:00:

Original Post: John McCain canceled a scheduled appearance on CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" mere hours before he was slated to tape the show Wednesday as part of the suspension of his campaign, MSNBC reported on air Wednesday afternoon. Keith Olbermann will appear on Wednesday's "Late Show" in McCain's place.

Olbermann appeared on Letterman's show in April, when the "Countdown" host said that most people in news are not smart enough for analysis and Letterman joked about Olbermann's size.

Comments

[schlobodnick]

11:41 AM on 10/04/2008

Very funny and turned out to be right on. McCain did virtually nothing to save America from the economic cratering. In fact, he probably contributed to the politicization of the negotiations that were going on. McCain's campaign strategy of trying to make him look presidential and heroic only made him look impulsive and arrogant. Probably lost the election right there on the David Letterman show!

[Rightfully Speaking]

11:54 PM on 09/29/2008

Poor poor, Keith. Always playing second fiddle to a better man and more and more starved for the spotlight.

It's such a shame his mommy didn't breastfeed him as an infant; he may have actually turned out to be someone.

[Sunsprite]

01:03 AM on 09/30/2008

Rightfully_Speaking

So odd you would engage a fantasy about Keith being breastfed and then claim he is nobody?

LOL..apparently this nobody has got you preoccupied with his mother's breast milk.

What exactly are you starving for?.

Have fun with that!.

[BOin08]

08:10 PM on 09/28/2008

America will vote for Obama...American majority fought and won freedom for slaves..Americans majority fought and voted for civil rights...it will be the majority that elects the first black President....show me any other naiton in the world that allows such opportunity for minorites???? We will prove to the world again in Nov -let's vote for OBin08. To do otherwise just porves what we're thinking about you anyway.....

[Sunsprite]

03:10 AM on 09/29/2008

Bawahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!! zing..

Thank You David Letterman...hahahaha!!

Just what I needed..

McCain what on this earth were you thinking???????

Between choosing Palin as VP and pretending to save the nation from economic collapse you have revealed your greatest talent ..that as a closet comedian.

Bravo you are hilarious..now back to the closet.

[Sseb]

02:47 PM on 09/28/2008

I love how Letterman can keep beating a dead maverick!

McSame: "If I could remember what I told you last week, I wouldn't have to lie about it this week. Now, get off my grass!"

Got trickle down? Nope, that's just elephant piddle.

[Everybody Should Vote]

02:19 PM on 09/28/2008

This seems to be carrying some weight. This may haunt John McCain.

Embeddable Election Content
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Sept 27 Polling Update
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Obama 292, McCain 246
http://voteforamerica.net/electoral.aspx

The 700 Billion Dollar Concession
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The Debate: Live Analysis
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[InternationalObserver]

07:59 PM on 09/27/2008

Okay, let's take a reality check:

Once McCain announced he was 'suspending' his campaign to sort out this 'Crisis' he was obliged to cancel his Letterman appearance. You can't say you want to cancel a Presidential Debate, but then find time to appear on a Chat Show. So he had to cancel Letterman.

His mistake was NOT telling Letterman 'Look I can't do your show, it wouldn't be right. I'm going to an interview with Couric before I head to Washington, but I'd love to reschedule for next week". I'm a fan, but I think Letterman waaaay overreacted.

Imagine if it was the other way 'round? Say Obama made the big 'for the good of the country I'm going to suspend..." but then before heading out to Washington stopped for an appearance on Leno? FOXco would have had a field day!

[FWIW: I'm an Obama supporter. But I'm not one-eyed]

[ToSense]

03:47 AM on 09/28/2008

Your reality check is definitely not in the mail. The reality is not why McCain chose to cancel on Dave,
but how: with lies. When the truth would have been more effective and simpler, he chose to compromise his position and his relationship with what has been a valuable asset; national airtime to convince more voters that he's fit for the job. Tell Dave you're doing Couric, a legitimate news outlet, to mirror the gravity of the situation. Or just say," I can't make it, my friend. I am needed elsewhere and it wouldn't be appropriate to appear on your show in the midst of my campaign suspension." Period. No explanations needed, no lies and opening up the door to Late Night fallout. It doesn't take a genius to recognize Dave's attitude towards the current Republican administration and now it has extended to the prospective administration. Blame McCain, or his handlers.

[Devver]

04:01 PM on 10/10/2008

Please. He could have scheduled the Coric interview AFTER he did Dave! He didn't leave NYC until the next morning!!!!

[Mia23]

07:22 PM on 09/27/2008

The REAL story why McCain "Suspended" his campaign: (1) McCain needs Palin on the campaign trail to get the BIG turnouts. ... (2) Palin needs more coaching and debate prep, especially after her poor performance in the Couric interview. ... (3) McCain needed a reason why he"s not doing rallies, and is using the financial bailout to hideout in Washington DC. ... (4) YES, they really think we"re that STUPID and would believe EVERY crap they"re spewing. And why not? We"ve let Bush/Cheney/Rove govern, -- ram shod-- OUR COUNTRY the same way for the past eight years. ... (5) Will EVERYONE " Media, Obama/Biden campaign, elected officials, voters " find the courage to call them on their tomfoolery and DISHONEST ANTICS, before it's too late? ... Enough is ENOUGH. No way, no how, no Palin/McCain!!!! ... Vote OBAMA/BIDEN, for America's sake!!

[collima]

04:44 PM on 09/27/2008

Major What The F!!k

MSNBC's Full Throated Endorsment of John McCain! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjGYb_KtAeg

[anti-phony]

11:44 AM on 09/27/2008

How much do these reporters supplement their income by supporting Obama and bashing McCain????
Seems George Soros is really spreading it around.

[MrChrisSEA]

01:09 PM on 09/27/2008

Um, you can't go listen to the 90% of radio programming that is conservative; and you can go listen to Rupert Murdoch buying conservative votes on Faux News.

Republicans are such hypocrites.

[LGrace]

03:55 PM on 09/27/2008

Yah, it's a vast Left Wing Conspiracy, I'm sure!!!

Look into the ownership of all the news stations and you'll find they're owned by a handful of mega(non-liberal)corporations.

[gottatellya]

11:09 AM on 09/28/2008

And...........it was Reagan with George HW who deregulated the media, so that a few large right wing companies could own the major news networks, and have their hand puppets like O'Reilly and Hannity et al 'instruct' the loyal patriotic viewers what to think. Seems not that unlike a certain Germanic scenario of the 30s featuring a guy named Geobbels.

[straight forward]

08:02 AM on 09/27/2008

awww too bad.. you got stood up... John bruised your little EGO!!!!

[MedinaM]

04:04 AM on 09/27/2008

KO is awesome...too cute!

[hopeforchange]

10:54 AM on 09/27/2008

David is really hard up if he is forced to have Olberman as a stand in-I guess people dont want to do his show anymore.

[Everybody Should Vote]

09:26 PM on 09/26/2008

The 700 Billion Dollar Concession
http://voteforamerica.net/editorials/Comments.aspx?ArticleId=71&ArticleName=The+700+Billion+Dollar+Concession

Sept 26 Polling Update
http://voteforamerica.net/editorials/Comments.aspx?ArticleId=72&ArticleName=Poll+Update

Obama 301, McCain 237
http://voteforamerica.net/electoral.aspx

[Bergen]

02:31 PM on 09/26/2008

The geniuses at the McCain campaign are putting out today (Friday) that McCain didn't do Letterman "because he didn't want to do late night in such an emergency."

The Couric interview and the Letterman show, as reported here first, were taped at exactly the same hour.

[foxfan]

05:55 PM on 09/26/2008

In fairness, Couric represents news and Letterman doesn't.

[alienlovesong]

09:17 PM on 09/26/2008

Oh, and you would know, FoxFan.

[Beca]

09:08 AM on 09/27/2008

The point is that McCain lied once again! Why didn't he just tell Letterman that he didn't want to go on his show, that he wanted Couric instead? No that would have been way too honest for McCain! He had to pretend he was needed in the White House to save the world, when in fact he was never needed there! And when he did arrive he made such a mess of things that things deteriorated to a point of a completely stalled plan. This from a guy who, just hours prior to that, proclaimed that if this wasn't agreed upon now the world would come to an end. What does he do? stop the process from moving forward by throwing a monkey wrench, which seems to be his M.O. lately. It is so transparent. When he is in trouble, he grandstands and either "suspends" his campaign for "country first" crap, or throws in a monkey wrench that forces everyone to scramble--giving him time to re-engage and come out a hero. But, his game is over, he really blew it and nobody bought the "the country needs me" crap this time!

[snarkopolitan]

02:20 PM on 09/26/2008

Cliffy reports "Liberals forgot Obama stiffed SNL two weeks ago"---- Obama didn't LIE to SNL. BTW, apparently Obama noticed there was a crisis two weeks before McCain did.

[Kaos911]

12:10 PM on 09/27/2008

There was a Hurricane stupid!

[Cliffyworld]

01:29 PM on 09/26/2008

Please read related article titled "Liberals Forgot Obama Stiffed SNL Only Two Weeks Ago! Bring On The Ginko Biloba!" at http:www/cliffyworld.com/blogs

[chromodynamics]

03:11 PM on 09/26/2008

...Really? Did Obama promise to host the SNL? No? If I remember, the guest host of the show that night was Michael Phelps, and all Obama promise to do was a walk on, like he did last year.

Get real. It's a little different when McCain would have been on Letterman for at least the better part of the hour. Obama did it, recently. What was McCain afraid of? That he would look a clueless as his running mate Palin on what to do about our economic crisis?

I think McCain ditched Late Night because Letterman wouldn't be afraid to ask him the really tough questions the media has avoided to ask him so far.

[Beca]

09:12 AM on 09/27/2008

You are missing the point! McCain lied about haivng to save the world/that he had to run to Washington to save the planet--that is why he claimed not to have been able to be on Letterman, when in fact that was a LIE. Is it that you repugs don't see anything remotely wrong with your candidate lying all the time? Lying constsntly should not be a positive or favorable trait in a candidate for President! Well, you guys might just think lying is like breathing since your current Republican President has been lying to all of us for 8 years and you don't seem to mind.
Obama did not lie to SNL when he cancelled with them. BIG Difference!