McCain: People are telling me to run for president again

Is there another presidential bid in the cards for Arizona Sen. John McCain?

Not a chance, the 2008 Republican nominee says. But it's not for a lack of interest by the public.

"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.' "

McCain is referencing a quote from former Democratic political strategist Dick Tuck that appears in Too Funny To Be President, a book by the late Rep. Morris Udall, D-Ariz.

If he were to run, it would be McCain's third presidential bid. The first was a Republican primary challenge to then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000.

McCain's next Senate election, if he runs for a fourth term, will be in 2016 when he turns 80 years old. He told a Phoenix talk-radio station in October that he was "seriously" considering the possibility, and that he was encouraged by business leaders who were upset with the government shutdown last month that was led by the more conservative wing of the party.