ET's Mary Hart sat down with John and Cindy McCain for a wide-ranging interview in which the two share their thoughts on last week's VP presidential debate, Sarah Palin and dealing with media criticism and comedy during the campaign.

John tells Mary he was very pleased with Palin's performance during the debate with Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden -- a broadcast that received the highest TV ratings in history for a VP debate.

"Actually I wasn't too surprised. I'm pleasantly surprised because Sarah Palin did such a great job, I mean she was fantastic and, as you know, there had been a lot of curiosity. So I'm certainly pleased, it means that more Americans are more involved and engaged in this election, so I think it was a good thing," McCain said.

Cindy said she believes that despite the criticism of Palin in the media, she thinks the American people are convinced she would make "an amazing" vice president. "I think criticism has been more just amongst the media and not so much with the American people at all," Cindy said.

Speaking about political parodies on "Saturday Night Live" and the endless campaign jokes by comedians on the late-night talk shows, John said it's all part of the process of running for the White House.

"No, that's part of the routine that you go through when you go through one of these and Tina Fey -- nobody enjoys it more than Sarah Palin. So I think it's just part of what you do. One of the most fun things I've ever done was hosting "Saturday Night Live" some years ago and I did one routine that I was lounge act singer, singing Barbara Streisand songs. You know, I mean it's really funny."

"So you know, it's part of comedy -- comedy is fine and I think we ought to do a lot of it. I wish there wasn't quite so much of the personal stuff that goes on, but we're big people, we know how to handle it."

Watch the video to see more of Mary's exclusive interview!