John McCain and David Letterman

McCain's "casual" announcement

Wednesday night, I did something I rarely do. I watched David Letterman.

If not for reading about John McCain's Late Show appearance on Drudge, I would never have known that the senator was a guest.

(If Letterman's ratings jump, he can thank Drudge.)

The big news was that John McCain announced his intention to run for the presidency on Letterman's show.

There was no ghost of Abraham Lincoln watching over him like Barack Obama had when he made his announcement standing outside Illinois' Old State Capitol.

Perhaps McCain thought it would be effective to conger up the ghost of Ed Sullivan.

Using a late night talk show forum to throw one's hat in the ring has been done before. McCain followed in the tradition of Arnold Schwarzenegger when he used an appearance on the Tonight show to announce that he was running for governor in California's recall election.

I think it's weird. The lines between news and entertainment are so blurred as it is.


Still, I admit that I was interested in seeing McCain's performance. I wanted to see super lib Letterman react. I wanted to hear the audience's reaction as well.

So, I avoided Letterman's always god-awful monologue and flipped back and forth until it was time for McCain's segment.

NEW YORK -- Republican Sen. John McCain will officially enter the presidential race — his second run after a bitter loss to George W. Bush in 2000 — with a formal announcement in early April after a trip to Iraq.

The Arizona senator discussed the timing of the long-expected announcement with reporters at an awards reception Wednesday evening a few hours after taping an appearance on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman."

McCain told Letterman: "The last time we were on this program, I'm sure you remember everything very clearly that we say, but you asked me if I would come back on this show if I was going to announce. ... I am announcing that I will be a candidate for president of the United States."

McCain said he would make a formal announcement in early April. He later told reporters that he would visit Iraq first and that his campaign would be about "whether I have the vision, experience and knowledge to lead the nation."

The audience was more than just politely receptive to McCain's announcement.

Lib Letterman was unusually civil and refrained from giving McCain his trademark smart ass treatment during the interview.

It's possible that Letterman felt the former POW deserved respect even though he is a Republican.

I don't know why McCain announced his candidacy but then sort of took it back by saying it wasn't his "formal announcement."

Does that sound like "straight talk" to you?

He says that he's a candidate, but he will formally announce later, in April.

What is that? The cat's out of the bag. The genie's out of the bottle. The toothpaste is out of the tube.

McCain's pre-formal announcement on Letterman smacked of desperation. I think he wanted some attention. He was correct in assuming that the Letterman stunt would distract the media long enough for them to take their adoring gaze off of Obama for a moment.

McCain was courting all those independents, the ones without any depth of political and policy understanding.

It was like he was hoping to sway the clueless. "Vote for me! As seen on TV."

It was ridiculous for McCain to say, "I am announcing that I will be a candidate for president of the United States," while telling viewers to stay tuned for his real announcement, coming soon.


I thought that Paul Shaffer had the best line of the night when he chimed in, "He's doing the formal announcement on Leno."

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Bad news for McCain.