After Republican John McCain, under the pretext of the ongoing economic crisis, backed out of a scheduled Wednesday appearance on David Letterman’s talk show – ‘Late Show’ - the host has kept up a verbal assault on him. He said he felt like a ‘patriot’ to let McCain off his commitment to deal with the economy and “now I’m feeling like an ugly date.” Incidentally, the night before the back out by McCain, Letterman had said McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign to deal with the economic crisis “didn’t smell right.”  

Commenting that McCain wanted to postpone Friday’s first presidential debate with his Democrat rival, Barack Obama, Letterman said McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin wanted to put off her debate with Democrat Joe Biden until after Election Day. Letterman took another dig at McCain, saying that the Republican taking Palin to meet world leaders at the United Nations was like “take-your-daughter-to-work day.”

In fact, Letterman’s disappointment writ large turned into sheer fury, masked under a comedic monologue, when he found that McCain sat for an interview with Katie Couric on Wednesday itself, and that he did not leave New York until Thursday. Letterman himself called over MSNBC’s ‘Countdown’ host - and critic of the Arizona senator - Keith Olbermann on his show in place of McCain.

After McCain’s previous 12 appearances over the years, as a ‘Late Show’ guest, it appears he took one wrong step that he might regret. Although Letterman was known as McCain-friendly, so friendly in fact, that the senator announced his presidential candidacy on his show, there is one mistake not to be made by any man who wants to get through to people and gain the sympathy of millions. No presidential candidate should ever drop out of Letterman’s show at the last minute, especially when there’s no better excuse than the ‘economical crisis’.

Letterman is one of the nation’s most influential hosts, and influence is what any candidate would need when running for president. This man is not someone who forgives and forgets that easily; his ‘famous’ quarrels in the past have lasted a long time. Banging away at McCain on Thursday in his typical monologue, Letterman said: “Here’s how it works: you don’t come to see me? You don’t come to see me? Well, we might not see you on Inauguration Day.”