WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has proposed postponing the first debate with his rival, Democrat Barack Obama, citing a need for the two senators to return to Congress to help hammer out a compromise on a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street.
For his part, Obama said the debate, which is to focus on foreign policy, should go ahead because now is a time when Americans need to hear from the candidates.
Should the two White House hopefuls go on with the show? Should they switch the topic of the debate to the economy? Or should they cancel as McCain suggested while dealing with the crisis?
Have your say in the comments section, or log onto the news prediction market HubDub to place a virtual wager on whether Friday’s scheduled debate will take place.
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FACT: McCain invited O-bama to debate in “town hall” style settings repeatedly over the summer. Obama declined every time. (Who’s the chicken?)I know, I know, that’s never referenced in Obama’s house organs (aka MSM).
McCain’s call to put politics aside is a legitimate reason to postpone the debate.
Also remember - there is no teleprompter at the debate. Pee Wee, at a minimum, is going to have to respond to real questions (at least from McCain). Barry’s big adventure continues (though not much longer)!
- Posted by WardMcCain, Rove, Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis & Co. must have be at their wit’s end!
Barack Obama’s polling numbers were rising across the country, he had just taken the lead in critical swing states, and he was gaining credibility among independent and crossover voters.
Meanwhile, McCain’s Rove-Boys, the ultimate one-trick-dogs of American politics, were again serving up the same old Rove-style “culture war”, but were going no where!
Voters, faced with hard economic times, and a threatening financial crisis, were not taking the bait, yet McCain had bet the farm on it.
The glamour was also wearing off of Sarah Palin, as voters learned of her unbridled pork-politics (to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars), her flip-flopping (for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it, and pocketing the money in the end anyway), and her ongoing stonewalling of a legislative investigation (Troopergate) into abuse of office charges against her.
It didn’t help when Palin started making statements in her few selected interviews that could only convince voters she was obviously not chosen for her political competence.
With McCain’s actuarial table showing a 1-in-3 chance of Palin actually taking over as President during his first term, her performances (“I can actually see Russia from an Alaskan island”; “the Bush Doctrine – in what respect?”; “McCain’s record on finance regulation – I’ll get back to you on that later”) began turning her into a liability for the Ticket.
On top of all that bad news, the first Presidential debate loomed, threatening to cement Democratic gains, and McCain losses.
Yikes! What to do?!?
Well, we now all know McCain’s reaction to his ship-wrecked campaign: stop the press, halt the campaign, all hands on deck, country first, I must go to Washington! And there he was, McCain suddenly on TV trying to sell himself to voters as the one person needed to fix it all.
- Posted by fbla1805I’ve been involved in planning debates and know the tremendous amount of time, effort, and expense that goes into coordinating them. I had a candidate try to pull out on me about a week before the event. I called our state’s major newspaper and the Associated Press and made sure that our story got out first. The offending campaign wanted to restart it. I only would only accept an apology from the candidate, not from any of his staff.
I hope John McCain is apologizing for his irresponsible behavior. He might think he has more important things to do, but he is showing little regard for all the people that are attempting to put unedited information before the voters. And he is denying all of us citizens the opportunity to judge for ourselves.
I plan to have my television on at 9:00 tomorrow night……………………..Philis
- Posted by Philis AlvicUnbelievable grandstanding by McCain. He isn’t even on a committee working on this bailout.
Turns out the White House had this drawn up months ago and never once met with Congressional leaders to suggest they get their ducks in a row. Not once.
Now, they want to effect the election, and further disrupt our process by throwing this out a week before Congress was scheduled to adjourn, hoping they’d pass it hastily.
I’m so sick of the Bush Administration and the GOP I could puke. I voted Republican too. Screw ‘em.
- Posted by DannyThis is W’s responsibility. The other 2 are not important. We don’t know which one will get the mess? If I was a CEO, I don’t want the applicants tell me how to do my job. These applicants did not even get thru the first interview.
- Posted by DoeMcCain is going to send Sarah Palin to the debate. This is going to bring Obama down to VP level and affirm McCain at Presidential level.
- Posted by HankIt’s a pity that McCane is trying to manipulate the American public because he doesn’t have another way of garnishing support. It seems from the blogs that there are a few people falling for it. Hopefully most Americans are smart enough to know better! Who was it in the Republican Party that said the American economy was a sound one?
- Posted by rolyat“send Sarah Palin to cover for him. I would love to see what she has to say.”
I think we all DESERVE to see what she has to say. So far all they have done with Ms. Palin is hide her. Just more proof that she was chosen solely as a “trophy”. I would love to see her debate moved up, but either way, somebody needs to participate in a debate on Friday
- Posted by Jeff LandisThere appears to be an overwhelming vote to continue the debate, of which I totally agree. What’s alarming is the comments from the McCain supporters that tend to be very nasty and defensive. If you don’t have anything but slander to add to what is largely a well-thought-out and intelligent interchange, then you’re really just following your candidate’s lead.
- Posted by riloI am glad that McCain is holding off on the debate, it shows he is a man of his word, he cares for this country, and that’s what he is putting first, the debate can come after.
Barb
- Posted by BarbWisconsin
These two candidates are not just retired businessmen with time on their hands to wander around high-priced hotels and prepare to bs the American people with sensational campaign promises, many of which will never be acted upon, on tv in a grandeur debate while shirking their senate duties while the rest of the country is in turmoil.
These two candidates are current sitting senators in the United States Congress! And they SHOULD be putting country and their legislative duties before political party debates and presidential candidacies.
I guess putting in real work and upholding sworn duties may be a foreign idea that is hard for Obama to comprehend since he has only served one term in the U.S. senate and half of that term he was running to live in the white house.
Seems Obama just wants to run off to the debate to avoid real work to gain real experience and instead do what he does best - get a grand forum on tv to lie, manipulate and talk BS
- Posted by CJI think that the republicans are stonewalling the deal just enough so McCain can ride to the rescue and “persuade” them to make the deal. Then McCain can go on TV and say; “Without my leadership this deal would never have been made. While my opponent was campaigning I was saving the economy.” Just watch.
- Posted by jimHThat’s supposed to say “don’t PICK the queen of big spending”
- Posted by MichaelMatt why do you GOP followers get so much comfort in calling everyone a liberal? I think McCain’s a liberal and you being head over heels in love with him pretty much makes you a liberal. Conservatives don’t want to make enormous expansions to amnesty and corporate welfare like McCain’s bills tried to do, and they most certainly don’t the queen of big spending to be their VP.
That just must really rock you guys to the core, knowing how you people are you’d rather vote in someone you’d describe as terrorist rather than liberal but when you made the choice of McCain over Romney you proved that you guys wanted just another liberal in the Oval Office. No different than Democrats.
- Posted by MichaelThe debate should go forward. This is political grandstanding by McCain plain and simple.
If he cannot control his own party (it’s the republicans who are threatening the agreement afterall) AND argue a debate then how in the world can he be expected to deal with TWO wars, domestic security, the economy and whatever legislation comes up if he becomes president. Is he going to suspend the “war on terror” while he deals with the economic mess as president???
He can do whatever he needs to do on the bailout without being there in person. He can send his VP pick to do most of the ground work (she needs the experience anyway) and then, if absolutely necessary, go in person for 1/2 a day to personally push for an agreement.
- Posted by JimHTen Days ago McCain thought the economy was “fundamentally sound.” As of yesterday he believes it is in such bad shape it needs a bailout and right now. Wrong both times. Only thing he’s been right about on the economy is that he doesn’t understand it so well. But politics he understands: What a great excuse this is to avoid actually discussing the issue in a debate.
- Posted by Stephen ManionMatt,
What a fool you are. You have a nice collection of out of context sound bites…but no footnotes. Since you must believe everything that you read, you must also believe that the economy is fundamentally sound. That was what McCain said on the day Lehman Brothers collapsed. How about the joint proposal by the two candidates, written by Obama with an inclusion by Obama. Sounds like a joint proposal that only one side wrote or read.
Does McCain think he has more voice than the 99 other Senators that somehow HE will come up with a solution. The solution is already on the table and he is trying to posture for free press. He will suspend his campaign so he can come up with some more lies to put in TV ads. Save some of his campaign cash so he can pull another trick to avoid Palin having to debate as well.
This old timer thinks he’s got one up his sleeve, but he’s not fooling any educated American…unfortunately, educated Americans don’t make up the majority.
- Posted by AndyClearly those of you who feel McCain is ‘Chicken’ or has some other purpose for delaying this debate, are not aware that the debate’s agenda on Foreign Policy - very heavily favors McCain.
So this ‘old’ ‘ailing’ candidate is risking a lot to focus on the crisis at hand.
I don’t care if or when they debate, I could never vote for a blatently out-right liar like Obama and for those of you without a conscious - what a shame and shame on you!
- Posted by Brian McNallyThey are both senators first and presidential candidates second. They need to do the jobs they were elected to do, especially with regards to something this important and far reaching.
The country comes first, and that includes the economy and the people that it affects.
If the debate is a couple of days late, so be it.
- Posted by CyndiWhat exactly is John McCain so busy with he can’t attend the debate. What huge hole in this bail out is he so dedicated with that he can’t continue on his campaign.
McCain and Obama have very little to do with any of it aside from talking about it.
- Posted by Mark S.