President George W Bush poked fun at his potential successors last night, expressing surprise that none of them were in the audience at the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner.
"Senator McCain's not here," Mr Bush said of Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain. "He probably wanted to distance himself from me a little bit. You know, he's not alone."
Mr Bush then referred to scandals that have dogged the campaigns of the two remaining Democratic candidates, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, in explaining their absence: "Hillary Clinton couldn't get in because of sniper fire and Senator Obama's at church."
During the ongoing campaign, Senato Clinton mistakenly claimed to have landed under sniper fire in Bosnia as first lady. Senator Obama's longtime Chicago pastor has been criticized for his negative comments about America.
The president admitted to being "a little wistful" in his final appearance at the dinner, showing video clips of his routines from previous years. He finished by conducting the US Marine Band in a medley of patriotic marches.
The White House Correspondents Association was formed in 1914 as a liaison between the press and the president. Every president since Calvin Coolidge has attended the dinner.