McCain Says People Are Urging Him to Run for President Again

Even he laughs off the idea

Since his statesman-like role in the recent partisan fight over government funding, U.S. Sen. John McCain says he has been encouraged to make a third run for the White House in 2016.

However, McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee, laughed off the suggestion with a favorite line of former U.S. Rep. Morris Udall, even as he contemplates seeking a sixth term as senator from Arizona. McCain ran for president in 2000 but lost in the GOP primaries to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

"Particularly since the shutdown, I've had a spate of e-mails and letters and phone calls saying, 'Run for president again,' " McCain told The Arizona Republic. "As you know, I'm seriously thinking about running for re-election to the Senate. But I think, in the words of the late Morris K. Udall, as far as my presidential ambitions are concerned, 'The people have spoken — the bastards.' "