The audience for David Letterman and John McCain's summit meeting was Late Show's biggest since Letterman and Oprah Winfrey reached an on-air peace accord in December 2005, CBS said and a boost of 73 percent over the show's average audience this season, the Associated Press reports. Nielsen Media Research says 6.5 million viewers tuned in for MCain's appearance.

McCain began by telling Letterman that he "screwed up" by canceling a guest shot three weeks ago because of the economic crisis. McCain cancelled the Letterman appearance September 24, claiming he had to fly back to Washington to help fix the economic crisis. But he was later discovered he had been interviewing with Katie Couric. Last week, Letterman called McCain, "squirrelly" for lying about rushing back to D.C. Moreover Letterman had barely let up on McCain in the weeks since the senator canceled the appearance.

During the Thursday night’s show, the TV host wasn’t ready to let McCain off the hook and asked whether Palin had, in fact, said that Obama "pals around with terrorists." McCain's first impulse seemed to be to feign ignorance. "I don't …," began McCain. Presumably, he realized the absurdity of denying knowledge of a charge that became the centerpiece of his campaign, and changed the course of his answer. "Yes," he replied and then proceeded to try to defend the allegation which refers to an association with William Ayers, a figure from the radical politics of the 1960s.

Steve Duprey, McCain’s close friend and frequent traveling companion, said McCain felt it was important to keep his commitment to Letterman.