McCain To Letterman: "I Will Be A Candidate For President"

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New York, NY (AHN) - Arizona Sen. John McCain announced Wednesday that he will seek the Republican nomination for president in 2008.

Given that McCain's candidacy has been an open secret for months; yesterday's announcement was a formality, the kind of anti-climax typical of the early stage of a long campaign. So, as if to give his candidacy some born-again urgency, McCain made his declaration in the comparatively edgy environment of late night television.

"I am announcing that I will be a candidate for president of the United States," said McCain during an appearance on CBS's "Late Show With David Letterman".

McCain went on to say that he would formally announce his candidacy in April, and, in a small, but telling bit of candor, admitted that his on-air declaration was merely a part of an ongoing process of in which he would gradually unveil his campaign - effectively stretching out the announcement to maximize media coverage.

"You know you drag this out as long as you can.," said McCain. "You don't just have one rendition - you've got to do it over and over."

It's a technique that has become popular with presidential candidates trying to get as much free exposure as possible before the primary season goes into full swing and the costs of ad purchases start to mount.

McCain's appearance with Letterman - a late night icon who gleefully skewers the Bush administration and once dismissed comments by Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly as "crap" - also provided McCain the chance to continue his revival as the GOP's angriest man.

That outsider role served the former Navy pilot and Vietnam War prisoner well during his vibrant but futile attempt to gain the Republican nomination in 2000. McCain was finally vanquished by George W. Bush. And even though he has emerged as one of the Senate's most consistent supporters of the Iraq war, McCain, on the stump, has already begun reasserting himself as the go-to-guy for party dissidents and for Democrats who might be enticed by the candidate's reputation for straight talk.

Campaigning in South Carolina last week, McCain called former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "one of the worst secretaries of defense in history," and he has railed against the management of the war if not the conflict itself.

McCain has also irked the GOP's social conservative base by refusing to back a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage saying the issue is a matter for the states.

In most polls, McCain trails former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani among Republican voters. However Giuliani, a moderate, is also facing an uphill run against the party's religious right wing.

What Giuliani doesn't have, are the questions about age that may dog McCain. On "Letterman" the talk show host noted that the Arizona senator just turned 70. If elected, McCain would be the second oldest person ever to take the oath, after Ronald Reagan who was 73 at the time of his inauguration.

McCain laughed off Letterman's age talk, and said he was undaunted by the polls.

"We keep doing the best we can," McCain said. "We're very happy with the way things are going."