David Letterman took strong swipes at John McCain, saying he feels like an "ugly date..used…cheap…sullied" by the GOP candidate after learning that McCain didn’t rush back to Washington DC after canceling his Late Show appearance Wednesday night. Thursday night the talk show host tossed down the gauntlet, saying: 

John, John, 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. That’s how it works. You see?

McCain used the lame excuse lie he was flying back to the Capitol to deal with the financial crisis. Instead he appeared in an interview with Katie Couric that night  and Thursday spoke at the Clinton Global Inititiative.  Commented Letterman:

We found out today that he didn’t really leave until this morning…So what we learned today is that the economy held on long enough –- just barely held on long enough for him to get back there. 

 McCain’s running mate got dinged in Letterman’s Top Ten Surprising Facts About Sarah Palin, presented by residents of Wasilla. 

Socialite Paris Hilton, who was the focus McCain’s anti-celebrity diatribe earlier in the campaign, was introduced as the Republican’s "first choice" for Vice-President. Hilton responded to Letterman’s jibes at McCain saying, "I heard he dissed you. He dissed me."