A week after his defeat in the US presidential election, John McCain gave his first TV interview last night to a more receptive audience.
The Republican senator raised a laugh on Jay Leno's Tonight show with a gag about how he had been coping in the aftermath of Barack Obama's cruise to victory.
''I've been sleeping like a baby," he said. "Sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours, wake up and cry."
The joke was, however, one he had used repeatedly in the past, as as the New York Times pointed out.
McCain also ruled out a 2012 run, suggested his own "personality" may have cost him the election and defended his lampooned running mate, Sarah Palin, denying she had hurt his campaign.
"I wouldn't think so, my friend," he said of the possibility of seeking election as president in four years' time, at the age of 76. "It's been a great experience, and we're going to have another generation of leaders, and I would hope I can continue to contribute."
He expected Palin to "play a big role" in the future of the country, saying he "couldn't be happier" with her.
And, asked about claims by unnamed "campaign sources" that Palin did not know Africa was a continent and could not name the three countries that had signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, McCain scoffed that he had had "at least 1,000, quote, 'top advisers'".
