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David Letterman Makes McCain Squirm
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So last night, John McCain finally showed up on David Letterman's show, after blowing him off two weeks ago. Here's the whole interview (and if someone can find a transcript, please drop a link in comments):
Letterman: Now, [Palin's] also, I think, she's the one who says that Barack Obama pals around with terrorists. Has she, in fact, said that at rallies and stuff?AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.
McCain: I don't—I don't kn—uhhh [clearly, here, McCain considers saying "I don't know," but realizes he can't get away with that, changes his mind, and admits it] yes. And he did.
Letterman: To terrorists? Like who did he—
McCain: And he refused to—he refused to acknowledge—
Letterman: Who did he pal around with?
McCain: [exasperatedly] William Ayers, who said on 9/11 that he wished he had bombed more, okay? His wife was on the top 10 of the FBI most wanted list—
Letterman: But this all took place when he was an active—with the Weatherman. Barack Obama was eight years old.
McCain: Eight years old—and Mr. Ayers, on two thousand and one, uhh, September eleventh two thousand one, said, "I wish I had bombed more," okay? It's an unrep—
Letterman: But what is the relationship, John? What is their relationship?
McCain: [agitated] That's it! That's all we need to know! That's what Senator Clinton said. We need to know about the relationship.
Letterman: Mm hmm.
McCain: First he said he was just a guy in the neighborhood. And so it's a matter of trusting the word of—
Letterman: I know, I know.
McCain: That's all it is.
Letterman: But you will also admit that we cannot really control who we interact with in our lives a hundred percent. I mean, you have—you have—
McCain: For how long we interact with them, and how we interact with them. But the point is—
Letterman: But you have—you had a—
McCain: The point in this campaign is the economy, and the economy, and the economy—
Letterman: Did you not have a relationship with Gordon Liddy?
[pause]
McCain: Uhh, I met him. I, you know, I mean, uhh—
Letterman: Did you attend a fundraiser at his house?
[pause; audience begins to applaud]
McCain: Gordon Liddy's…?
[McCain looks flummoxed. Paul Schaeffer yells, "I object, your honor!" Dave laughs.]
Letterman: We'll be right back here with Senator McCain everybody.
McCain: I know Gordon Liddy and his son!
[end first video; begin second]
Letterman: How about that Tina Fey—
McCain: I know Gordon Liddy, I—he paid his debt, he went to prison, he paid his debt, as people do. I'm not in any way embarrassed to know Gordon Liddy.
Letterman: [nods; opens his mouth as if to say something to move on]
McCain: And his son, who is also a good friend and supporter of mine.
Letterman: But you understand that the same case could be made of your relationship with him as is being made with William Ayers?
McCain: I—everything about any relationship that I've ever had, I will make completely open and give a complete accounting of. Senator Obama said he was a guy that lived in the neighborhood, okay? It was more than that. We all know that.
Letterman: They—
McCain: Just like ACORN.
Letterman: They served—they served on a committee at one point.
McCain: Yeah, that gave two hundred and thirty thousand dollars to ACORN, which is now involved in what may be the great, one of the great voter frauds in history.
[While McCain is talking, Letterman mutters something about Reagan; by his tone, he might as well be saying "blah blah blah," because he's basically just indicating that McCain is spinning]
Letterman: Yeah, okay.
McCain: It could be! We need to know.
Letterman: Are they—
[crosstalk]
Letterman: Are they double dating? Are they going to dinner? What are they doing? Are they driving cross-country?
McCain: [laughs] Maybe going to Denny's, who knows?
Letterman: To Denny's.
McCain: For the Grand Slam.
Letterman: The Grand Slam.
[McCain laughs like he thinks it's over.]
Letterman: Now she said pals around with terrorists. [McCain's grin falls from his face.] Okay, so that's, let's say—all right, we'll give her William Ayers.
McCain: Ohhh. [laughs tersely}
Letterman: They palled around. He was eight, and William Ayers was twenty-nine. But they palled around.
McCain: Look, there's millions of words said in a campaign! Come on now. Come on.
Letterman: Yeah, well, but—but that's where we live, in politics, isn't it?
McCain: [squirms wildly in his chair] There's millions of words. Yes, indeed. [stammers; gesticulates desperately]
Letterman: Let's talk about Tina Fey.
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