Wednesday, September 24, 2008

McCain Seeks to Delay First Debate

Oh, puh-leeze!  McCain is crashing in the polls (see below) as Americans are focusing more and more on the economy -- and discovering that McCain has nothing to offer -- so it's no surprise that he's pulling this political maneuver.  The debate should go on no matter what, but if it'll help get the bailout passed with bipartisan support, then they should both go to Washington.

Some Democrats reacted skeptically to Mr. McCain’s surprise announcement, charging that it seemed like a political ploy to try to gain the confidence of voters concerned about the economy.

“What, does McCain think the Senate will still be working at 9 p.m. Friday?” Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania said in an interview, referring to the scheduled start time of the debate. “I think this is all political — I wish McCain had shown the same concern when he didn’t show up in the Senate to vote on the extension of the renewable energy tax credit.”

Still, Governor Rendell said that if Congressional Democrats believed they were close to a compromise agreement on the bailout, it might behoove Mr. Obama to return to Washington as well.

“If I was Senator Obama, I would call the Democratic leadership to see how close we were in coming to the crucial moment, and if we’re close, I would consider going to Washington too,” Mr. Rendell said. “But if we’re not close, I see no reason to.”

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McCain Seeks to Delay First Debate Amid Financial Crisis

Published: September 24, 2008

Senator John McCain said Wednesday that he planned to suspend campaigning on Thursday, and seek a delay in this week’s planned presidential debate, so that he could return to Washington to try to forge a consensus on a financial bailout package.

A short time later the Obama campaign issued a statement saying that the two presidential candidates had spoken on the telephone Wednesday morning about issuing a statement on the financial difficulties facing the nation, but it did not address canceling the debate.

In fact, aides to Mr. Obama said that he was inclined to go ahead with the debate, and was planning to explain his position during a late-afternoon news briefing in Florida. "There are serious global financial issues at stake and the American people deserve to hear how the next president will handle them," said one senior Obama adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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