Breaking News: Debates a Go!!!

Bailout Talks to Resume After Impasse

Bush Urges Parties to Come Together
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE 3 minutes ago
President Bush tried to assure Americans on Friday that an agreement would be reached on a proposal to rescue the country’s financial system.


Brenden Smialowski/Getty Images

Senator Christopher J. Dodd, chairman of the banking committee, center, with Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, on Friday.
News Analysis
McCain Leaps Into a Thicket
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and ELISABETH BUMILLER
The day’s events raised questions about why Senator John McCain had called for postponing the first debate.
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What to Look for in the Debate
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE 56 minutes ago
John McCain might show a cooler side, while Barack Obama might throw off a little fire.
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Debates in Limbo

McCain threatens to pull out of tonight’s debate, wants to debate at WU

Published: Friday, September 26, 2008
Updated: Friday, September 26, 2008

MCT Campus

Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) walks with U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., September 25, 2008. McCain returned to Washington on Thursday to address the nation’s financial crisis.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain upended the presidential campaign this week, threatening not to attend the first presidential debate—set to take place tonight—should Congress not reach a deal by that time on the proposed federal bailout plan meant to alleviate the current economic crisis.

Under McCain’s plan, laid out by Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), the first presidential debate would be held at Washington University on Oct. 2 instead of the vice presidential debate, which would take place in Oxford, Miss.—where the presidential debate is set to occur tonight—on an undetermined date.

“We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved,” McCain said in a statement Wednesday.
As of this writing, the fate of the debate, which is set to be held at the University of Mississipi is unclear; most recently, McCain has stated that he will not wait for a final vote to decide whether he will attend the debate scheduled for Friday night, but rather would attend only if the White House and members of Congress reach an agreement on bailout legislation.

Both the Commission on Presidential Debates and Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign have said that they would like the debates to continue as scheduled.

Washington University is also planning to host the vice presidential debate as previously set up.

“We’re just moving ahead as planned. I don’t want to conjecture,” Sue McGinn, the University’s executive director of communications, said.

Thursday afternoon, it appeared that a group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill had come to a preliminary agreement on a counterproposal to President Bush’s original $700 billion bailout plan, but by the evening the proposal had fallen apart.

Although lawmakers had initially hoped to have a bill on the President’s desk by the weekend, by 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, talks had broken down without any indiciation about how the government will attempt to resolve the crisis in financial and credit markets.

Though there was speculation that McCain’s decision may make the vice presidential debate the first event of the debate cycle, the Obama campaign has announced that Obama will be attending the first presidential debate regardless of whether McCain decides to attend.

http://www.studlife.com/news/1.753891

Bill Clinton Says McCain Not Afraid to Debate

Bill Clinton said on NBC that McCain is “looking for some way of, once again, to say to the American people, ‘Hey, I'm not a traditional Republican."' Former President Bill Clinton believes John McCain’s move to suspend his campaign and push back Friday’s scheduled debate was made in “good faith” and not “because he’s afraid” to debate Barack Obama. “I presume he did that in good faith,” Clinton said on Good Morning America, recalling that McCain had “asked for more debates to go all around the country.” “I don't think we ought to overly parse that. Just let's deal with this issue,” the former president said. “We know he didn't do it because he's afraid, because Senator McCain wanted more debates.” Clinton said on NBC’s “Today Show” that McCain is “looking for some way of, once again, to say to the American people, ‘Hey, I'm not a traditional Republican. And I do take this seriously.’ Because otherwise this makes it much, much more difficult for him to win because this is associated with lax regulation and the absence of economic activity in this period.”

No Settlement Yet

McCain, Obama face to face at White House

U.S. President George W. Bush meets with Bicameral and Bipartisan Members of...

By Steve Holland, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters)- After months of tossing charges at each other, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama came face to face at the White House on Thursday in high-stakes talks over a Wall Street bailout plan and their first debate hanging in the balance.

McCain emerged hopeful that progress on a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry would allow him to attend a debate with Obama on Friday in Oxford, Mississippi.

Obama said he would be there whether McCain was or not.

He suggested McCain was injecting presidential politics into negotiations over the rescue plan, one of many Democrats to howl about the Arizona senator's abrupt suspension of his campaign to return to Washington to insert himself into the debate.

"The concern that I have ... is that when you start injecting presidential politics into delicate negotiations, then you can actually create more problems rather than less," Obama told a news conference.

McCain senior adviser Steve Schmidt shot back that it was the top Democrat in the Senate, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who had said McCain's help was needed to help corral Republican support for the plan.

The presidential campaign played out across Washington, from Capitol Hill to the White House to the television cameras a day before the first presidential debate is scheduled to take place.

McCain said progress was being made and he expressed confidence that a deal would be reached. Aides said he was working the phones to gain the support of Republicans uneasy about the cost of the $700 billion bailout.

"I'm very hopeful that we'll have enough of an agreement tomorrow that I can get to Oxford ... I understand how important this debate is and I'm very hopeful but I also have to put the country first," McCain told CBS News.

O Stumps John Trumps

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN McGANN
Posted: 4:08 am
September 25, 2008

FACING a postconvention fall in the polls, John McCain once again reshaped the dimensions of the race by suspending his campaign and calling for postponement of tomorrow's debate.

This bold move could have an impact on the race akin to McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Defensively, McCain had to act to stop the fall in his poll numbers.

Offensively, he has placed himself at the epicenter of the only issue on the national agenda - proactive action to stop a total international financial collapse.

Obama's response to McCain's initiative is lame. As with his initial reaction to Sarah Palin, Obama has miscalculated. While he tries to spin McCain's move as a mere response to his initiative, it was the Republican who first issued the call for a suspension of the campaigns.

Both McCain and Obama will now go to Washington. McCain on his own initiative. Obama as a result of the president's call for an economic summit.

But it is McCain who will play the proactive role. Obama will come to Washington, but will keep one foot outside the Beltway.

Even though the president has called both candidates to Washington to save the country, Obama continues to campaign. Politics as usual.

He doesn't want to cancel the debate. He would debate while the markets burn.

McCain is going to work while Obama is phoning it in.

Oddly, McCain and Obama agree on the bailout package. But it is only McCain who can pass the bill. Only McCain can deliver the administration and the Republicans.

McCain will be at the center of the process, managing it through to success while Obama lingers on the outskirts, irrelevant and uninvolved.

McCain will pass Barack Obama's bill (which parallels his own proposals), and will get the credit for it.

There are compelling reasons why McCain may be saving his campaign by this bold move.

McCain's entry into the legislative foray personalizes the economy issue.

As long as McCain stayed away from Washington, it was the Democrats against the Republicans. Polls give the Democrats the edge. But voters trust McCain personally more than they trust Obama to manage his way out of a crisis.

By showing up in Washington, McCain makes the issue personal, not partisan.

And the rescue legislation will pass. Washington has no alternative but to act. And it probably will work. The markets will calm down. The bailout legislation will have done it.

Including the Democratic amendments, it will become a fairly popular piece of legislation and it will have been McCain's bill. Obama can claim authorship, but it will have been McCain who will have brought the Administration into line.

Once the bill is passed, McCain will have the credentials to go on the offensive and warn of the impact of Obama's tax increases on the recovery.

Had McCain not acted, Republican opposition to big government might have doomed the economy and destroyed Republican hopes.

By going to Washington, McCain makes it imperative that the Republicans pass the legislation. His presence makes it an issue of party survival in a way that lame duck Bush could never do.

As Woody Allen said "half of life is just showing up."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09252008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/o_stumps_as_john_trumps_130637.htm

McCain To Work and Obama To Debate ? Obama, You’re Fired!

McCain To Work and Obama To Debate ? Obama, You’re Fired!

Posted by mcnorman under Uncategorized |

I think Donald Trump would have NO problem firing Barack Obama.

He doesn’t know when to go back to work. This is a crisis. Does he understand? I don’t think so and neither do others. Country First!

A Cause Greater Than Self…McCain is a man of his word.

Obama, the ignorant is arrogant beyond belief. He said he is multitasking? He does not see the urgency in doing his work. He is STILL a paid Senator. Did he forget?

http://mcnorman.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/mccain-to-work-and-obama-to-debate-obama-youre-fire

Obama is Spoiling for a Debate

Obama says debate should go ahead

1 hour ago

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama says that amid the current financial crisis, it's more important than ever for he and John McCain to sit down and hold a presidential debate.

Republican McCain proposed earlier Wednesday that Friday's debate be postponed while the two candidates work to deal with the nation's financial troubles. Obama said he and McCain are working on a joint statement setting out their ideas on how to solve the financial crisis. But Obama also said he believes it's important to go ahead and have the debate.

Obama said, "It's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) — Republican presidential nominee John McCain challenged rival Barack Obama on Wednesday to suspend their heated campaign, postpone Friday's debate and work together to deal with the nation's financial troubles.

Obama did not immediately respond to his rival's surprising political move, but campaign officials said the senator is inclined to move ahead with the debate. The dueling statements came after the two senators spoke privately, each trying to portray himself as the bipartisan leader at a time of crisis.

But McCain beat Obama to the punch with the first public statement, saying the Bush administration's Wall Street bailout plan seemed headed for defeat and a bipartisan solution was urgently needed. If not, McCain said ominously, credit will dry up, people will no longer be able to buy homes, life savings will be at stake and businesses will not have enough money to pay workers.

The move was an effort by the Republican to claim leadership on an issue that has been troublesome for him at a time when his rival is moving ahead in the polls.

McCain said he would put politics aside and return to Washington Thursday to focus on the nation's financial problems after addressing former President Clinton's Global Initiative session in New York. He also canceled his planned appearance Wednesday on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" program.

McCain said he had spoken to President Bush and asked him to convene a leadership meeting in Washington that would include him and Obama.

"It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration's proposal," McCain said. "I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time."

McCain said he has spoken to Obama about his plans and asked the Democratic presidential nominee to join him.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid issued a statement saying the debate should go on because "we need leadership, not a campaign photo op." Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., agreed that the debate should go forward and argued that McCain's return to Washington may not preserve the nonpartisan atmosphere he said is needed to find a way out of the crisis.

"He'll be bringing the presidential campaign with him to Washington," Durbin said of McCain on the Senate floor. "Bringing in all the lights and cameras to Capitol Hill, bringing the campaign here, is not going to be the answer."

The University of Mississippi said it was going forward with preparation for the debate in Oxford. "We are ready to host the debate, and we expect the debate to occur as planned," the school said, adding that it had received no notification of any change in the timing or venue.

The Obama and McCain campaign put out statements describing the timeline of private talks that led up to McCain's challenge.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement that Obama had called McCain around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to propose that they issue a joint statement in support of a package to help fix the economy as soon as possible. Later, McCain spokesman Brain Rogers said in his own statement that although Obama called in the morning, he couldn't reach McCain and did not leave a message about what he wanted to discuss.

McCain called back six hours later and agreed to the idea of the statement, Burton said, and McCain's statement was issued to the media a few minutes later. But Rogers said it was McCain who "asked Senator Obama to join him in returning to Washington to lead a bipartisan effort to solve this problem."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iE2JCSH5p9r2GBkQWS9TWAMzmuvQD93DAKP00

McCain Says Economic Crisis Top Priority

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

McCain Seeks to Delay First Debate

By ELISABETH BUMILLER 6 minutes ago

John McCain, seen at an event in New York on Wednesday, said that he wanted to delay Friday’s debate and suspend campaigning because of the economic crisis.

Should the candidates give top priority to the economic crisis?

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