If there's one thing great about John McCain that we've discovered since the end of the presidential election, it's that he's definitely not a sore loser. He refuses to pin the blame about losing his presidential bid on anybody, not even Sarah Palin. In his recent appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, McCain warded off suggestions that his choice for vice president damaged his presidential bid and dismissed anonymous criticism aimed at her following their crushing defeat. He also disputed that a different vice presidential pick would have changed the outcome against Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden. "I'm so proud of her and I'm very grateful she agreed to run with me. She inspired people, she still does," McCain told Jay Leno. "I couldn't be happier with Sarah Palin."

This was John McCain 14th appearance on the Tonight Show but his first since losing the presidency is a hard-fought and historic election campaign. He looked relaxed, well rested,
unlike his previous appearances in other shows in the past wherein he appeared tense, sometimes even 'lost'. When asked by Jay Leno how he was, this was his reply: "Well, I've been sleeping like a baby. Sleep two hours, wake up and cry. Sleep two hours, wake up and cry." Ha ha ha.

And while there is strong speculation about his one-time running mate's political plans for the future, the Arizona senator was quick to parry suggestions of a comeback in 2012. "I wouldn't think so," McCain told Leno, with a hint of resignation in his voice. "We are going to have another generation of leaders come along."

Read more about John McCain's appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno from the full transcript below, or watch the video.

John McCain on Leno's Tonight Show (VIDEO 1)

John McCain on Leno's Tonight Show (VIDEO 2)

John McCain with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show (November 11)
Full Transcript of Interview

Leno: As I said, today is Veterans Day. I cannot think of a better person to have as my first guest. Vietnam veteran, real American war hero, also just ran a hard-fought campaign against Barack Obama, now our President elect.

Please welcome, in his first television interview, Senator John McCain.
Welcome back, sir.
McCain: Thank you, my friend. And thank you for having all these brave servicemen and women here. I'm honored to be with you. Thanks.

Leno: It's been a week since the election. How are you doing?
McCain: Well, I've been sleeping like a baby. Sleep two hours, wake up and cry. Sleep two hours, wake up and cry.
McCain: I gotta tell you one quick story about Arizona. As you know, the great state of Arizona I've had the honor to represent. And we have a problem in Arizona. It's really kind of a sad thing, because Barry Goldwater from Arizona ran for President of the United States.

Morris Udolf (sp.) from Arizona ran for President of the United States. Bruce Babbitt from Arizona ran for President of the United States. I, twice. Arizona may be the only state in America where mothers don't tell their children that some day they can grow up and be President of the United States.

I mean, that's a sad story.

Leno: How about your wife Cindy? How is she taking it? Because sometimes
McCain: Yeah, it's tough. It's tougher always on the family members. But she's doing fine. She's doing very fine. Thanks for having her and Meghan on the show. Appreciate it.

Leno: They were great guests.
McCain: Thank you. And I'm glad to be back for my 14th time. I'm happy to be on.

Leno: The day after the election, it was so weird. I turn on the TV, and I see you coming out of your house or apartment. You get in your car, and you drive somewhere by yourself.
McCain: Yeah. To get a cup of coffee, yeah. I didn't have a single accident.

Leno: I mean --
McCain: Maybe one.

Leno: What was that like to suddenly be surrounded -- "He's coming down the hall. Remove" -- and then suddenly -- I mean --
McCain: Well, secret service people, despite the idiot you talked about tonight, they're wonderful people. They're brave. They serve the country. They're just really the best of America. But it is a bit confining, you know. So I'm able to --

Leno: So what did you do that first day? Where were you driving when you --
McCain: Went down to get a cup of coffee. Cindy and I went down to get a cup of coffee and -- not the newspaper. I knew what it was going to say.

Leno: And you went up to the mountains too?
McCain: Yeah, went up to our place near Sedona and had a very nice time.

Leno: Now, which house is that? Number 12?
McCain: You know what? That's -- let's see. 27.

Leno: 27.
McCain: But we're -- you know, look, it's a great honor. It's a great privilege. It's an incredible thing that I was able to do. And I saluted, as you know, and admire and respect the winner, Senator -- President elect Barack Obama.

Leno: Actually, to me, that was, I thought, a nice moment when you were talking somewhere. In the campaign when I saw ugly things going back and forth and a woman said, "Well, Barack Obama, he's an Arab or a terrorist," and you stopped and you said, "No, he's a good man and he's a family man."
McCain: Yeah, a good and decent person.

Leno: And I like that. I thought that was quite impressive.
McCain: Well, you've got to have a respectful campaign. And that doesn't mean it isn't tough. I mean, campaigns are tough, and they should be because you're seeking the most important position in the world. But there's a difference between being tough and being personal or angry. And look, America right now -- I don't have to tell you -- I don't have to tell anybody out here, especially those members of the military -- that we're in two wars. We've got housing problems. We've got economic crisis. We've got all these problems. Now it's time for America to join together and support the man who was just elected President.

Leno: Now, what do you think was the main reason you lost. I mean, it was close. You got --
McCain: I think personality.

Leno: Personality fault?
McCain: Maybe too many people saw me on the Jay Leno show.

Leno: What would you -- is there anything, looking back, you would have done differently? Seriously, is there anything you said, "Maybe I shouldn't have said this"?
McCain: You know, one of the things -- I do study history. And every book I've read about presidential campaigns is the person that one ran a perfectly flawless, beautifully machined, great campaign, and the person who lost, "Oh, my God, all screwed up." I could tell you a lot of things that we may have made mistakes on. But Jack Kennedy, after the failure of the invasion of the Bay of Pigs, said, "Victory has a thousand fathers. Defeat has one more lonely orphan." He didn't use the word "orphan," but we're on television.

So that's the way it is. Look, I'm so happy to have had the friends, go to the places we went to, Gee's Bend, Alabama, where Martin Luther King went before the March in Selma. And I met a group of African-American women who make quilts, singing. I'll never forget so many of those wonderful experiences that I had that no other way I could have had -- I could have had the experiences I had.

Leno: When you sit with friends, you discuss it, it does seem like, as viewing this, knowing you, I would see sort of two McCains. Sometimes I would see one McCain, and then the times when you were being funny, like at the Al Smith dinner and "Saturday Night Live" and said, "Oh, that was" -- I said, "Why can't we get" -- "where is that McCain?" That one didn't seem to be quite as visible. Is it the pressure and the tension of --
McCain: I think these are tough times, and you have to -- and campaigns are tough. I don't, frankly, think that a lot of people wanted a standup comic. They wanted to know how we were going to address the issues. That's why I didn't worry about your write-in candidacy.

But, you know, you just do the best that you can. And again, it's an incredible honor. You know, we're not -- I'm not denigrating my past, but I stood fifth from the bottom of my class at the Naval Academy. If my old Marine company officer were here today, he'd say, "In America, anything is possible."

Leno: Let's talk about Governor Palin now. The polls show that she hurt you. I know you're too much of a gentleman to probably answer this question, but did she? Do you think it hurt you at all?
McCain: No, look, Sarah Palin and her husband, who is an amazing guy, four-time champion --

Leno: Snow machine.
McCain: Yeah, snow machine --

Leno: I didn't hear that. Was that mentioned?
McCain: One time the guy -- with 250 miles to go, Todd broke his arm and finished the race. Look, I'm so proud of her. And I'm very grateful that she agreed to run with me. She inspired people. She still does. And look, I'm -- I couldn't be happier with Sarah Palin. And she's going back to be a great governor, and I think she will play a big role in the future of this country.

Leno: Did she ever get off message at one point?
McCain: Did you expect mavericks to stay on message? I'm sure that from -- look, we did a lot of things together, a lot of these rallies. The people were very excited and inspired by her. And that's what really mattered, I think. Look, she's a great reformer. She took on the governor of her own party when she ran for governor.

Leno: Gotcha.
McCain: She understands all the energy issues. There's a $40 billion pipeline coming to bring natural gas to places like California. And so look, she's a marvelous person.

Leno: Now, these aides that were criticizing her -- and I think everyone agrees there were Republican aides who were criticizing her. I know you wouldn't go for that. I know you're an old soul. You don't let people talk -- but why?
McCain: One -- these things happen in campaigns too. I think I have at least a thousand, quote, top advisors. "A top advisor said" -- people I've never even heard of, much less a, quote, top advisor or a high-ranking Republican official. It's -- these things go on in campaigns, and you

Leno: Why don't we just move on.
McCain: I'm just very proud to have had Sarah Palin and her family, a wonderful family.

Leno: I sort of guessed -- when Barack Obama picked Joe Biden, I -- it seemed to me he picked Joe Biden because Russia had just invaded Georgia and it seemed like, "Wow, I want to go with somebody with became a choice because of that. That's just my guess.

If this economic thing had happened a month earlier or prior to you choosing, would you might have gone with an economic person, maybe a Romney or somebody like that? Is there any chance -- how much did the world events play in the decision?

McCain: The world events didn't play a role. I just looked at people, and I saw all of the things that she had to offer. And all of them that we had to actually, quote, choose from or ask to serve with us were all good people. I like them all very much.

It wasn't an easy process. I just thought that -- I really believe that Sarah Palin is amongst some, like Tim Pawlenty and Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, there's a group of young Republican governors and -- mainly governors, but also some in the Senate -- that I think are the next generation of leadership of our party. And we're probably going to -- our party has a lot of work to do. We just got back from the woodshed.

Leno: How about Joe Lieberman? Was he a close choice? Was that possible?
McCain: Joe is one of the finest, most wonderful men I've ever known in my life. I have never known a finer man than Joe Lieberman, and I believe I won the nomination because right before the New Hampshire primary -- and I know I don't expect a lot of you to remember all the details -- he came out to supported me. It mattered. Independent voters voted with us. I love Joe Lieberman.

Leno: That might cost him the chairmanship now. Is that --
McCain: I hope not, because Joe is a wonderful person. And we want people to stand up for --

Leno: Can you do that? Can you lose your chairmanship in the Senate just because you picked what your party perceives as an --
McCain: It generally is not done. I don't, obviously, know what -- what's going to happen. But I know that Joe Lieberman is one of the -- and by the way, on national security issues, he's really, really good.

Leno: And he's an independent now; right?
McCain: He's a, quote, independent Democrat.

Leno: Would you want him to be a, quote, independent Republican?
McCain: No, no.

Leno: Try to get him over on the other side, kind of lure him over --
McCain: I'm honored to have --

Leno: -- get him some clothes, expensive clothes, maybe nice suit?
McCain: Neiman Marcus?

Leno: Neiman Marcus.
McCain: But yeah, I think that -- I think that Joe is going to probably remain as what he is, an independent who stands up for what he believes in. We need more people like Joe Lieberman.

Leno: I want to talk to some more. When we come back, I want to ask you about a couple of issues and if you think the outcome would have been different if those issues had been different. More with Senator John McCain.

Let me ask you this: If the main issue had remained the Iraq War, do you think the outcome might have been different?

McCain: If frogs had wings --

Anyway, won't finish that line. You know, I don't know, Jay. If you get into this "might have been" or different scenarios -- we fought, I thought, a good campaign. I'm honored by the friends we made. I'm honored to have had the opportunity. I know it sounds a little repetitious, but that's what I'll take with me. By the way, Senator Obama inspired millions of young people, and I think we inspired some people too. And that's really what I think was important, that legacy.

Leno: At what point did you feel like you're up against almost a historical movement? It seemed almost bigger than either candidate. You know, when I watched Senator Obama give his speech and I saw people who had not been part of the process --
McCain: Never been -- oh, yeah.

Leno: -- suddenly moving --
McCain: Especially a lot of young people too.

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