NEW YORK -- It was a presidential ticket born on TV -- Bob Dole and David Letterman in 1996.
The Republican senator from Kansas, pressed a bit by the CBS talk-show host, announced Friday night that he planned to run for president in 1996 and said that he believed that Mr. Letterman, originally from Indiana, would be a good running mate.
"I think we ought to have two Midwesterners on the ticket," Mr. Dole said on "Late Show With David Letterman." "You and I could do a great job. You could keep people happy, and I could get the hard stuff."
Mr. Dole said he planned to make his official announcement in early April. "This was an informal announcement," he said.
Mr. Letterman encouraged the announcement by asking Mr. Dole if he had made a public commitment to run for the White House. "I have not, but I will," Mr. Dole said. "I am going to run for president. I thought about it a lot. Every country ought to have a president, and we ought to give it a shot."
The studio audience cheered when Mr. Letterman held up a campaign button with pictures of Mr. Dole and Mr. Letterman. The button proclaimed, "Dole and Dumber."
A bigger cheer went up when Mr. Letterman showed a second button with pictures of Dan Quayle and Mr. Letterman. This one read, "Dumb and Dumber."
Also interviewed Friday for the PBS program "Talking With David Frost," Mr. Dole said some advisers have suggested that he pledge to run for only one term because of his age. Mr. Dole is 71 and will be 73 by the November 1996 election.