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here's the advance wrap-up already on WASHINGTONPOST dot-com
McCain and Jay Leno Joke About His Age
By Michael D. Shear
BURBANK, Calif. -- Bowing to the inevitability that Jay Leno would crack jokes about his age, Sen. John McCain came armed with one of his own.

"I've got one," McCain told Leno during a taped appearance on the "Tonight Show," which will air tonight. "My social security number is eight."

In his monologue, Leno introduced McCain and 41-year-old Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, by saying: "They're not here because of politics or Olympics. I just like being around successful people who told they were too old for the job."

And to McCain, Leno apologized for not having a birthday cake because, "the fire marshall said that many candles..."

McCain's appearance on the show -- his 13th, by his own count -- was timed to coincide with the first night of the Democratic National Convention in an attempt to steal at least a bit of the opening night thunder.

In that vein, McCain joked that he might make big news if he picked a running mate with no particular partisan leanings, no clear political principles and who "may need a job about that time." The audience cracked up when they realized McCain was talking about Leno.


"I can make more doing a week in Vegas," Leno joked.

McCain noted that the "house is nice," a reference to the White House.

"You've got enough of those," Leno cracked. "You need a white one, too." Later, he asked McCain: "For $1 million, how many houses do you have?"