McCain Snubs, Olbermann Subs...Letterman Drubs

Dave Letterman has nothing but the highest respect for John McCain, “a true American hero” as he called him last night on The Late Show. Unfortunately McCain was not around to hear the praise. Although he was scheduled to chat with Letterman, McCain called the host personally to cancel at the last minute, repeating his stated need to suspend his campaign to work on the economic crisis.

The snub already got Letterman’s hackles up. But what really ticked him off was finding out that McCain, who was supposed to be on a plane headed back to D.C., was instead sitting in CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric’s interview chair, getting made up for their chat.

Letterman sidekick Paul Schaeffer actually got the best lines in during his back and forth with Dave, from his reaction to Dave saying “The economy is about to crater,” to his personal take on McCain running mate Sarah Palin’s looks.

Watch the clip below:

But it’s truly painful to watch Dave with substitute guest Keith Olbermann, watching the live feed of McCain talking to Katie when he was supposed to be talking to him. Olbermann, uncharacteristically uncomfortable on Dave’s behalf, speculates that the change might have occurred because perhaps “[Couric] has all the money that’s required to fix the economy.”

“First of all, the road to the White House runs right through me,” Dave says at one point. If that’s so, Senator McCain’s next visit to Letterman might have some potholes. He’d be smart to bring a nice mea culpa gift.

By Rob Edelstein