mccain bails on debate!

"It seems desperate and reactive, especially in the face of bad polling for McCain. He's painting it as a post-partisan 9/11 thing, of course, and maybe that'll fly. Once again, we reiterate: there is nothing McCain can do about this. This is the stupidest and emptiest of political gestures."

Obama innitiated the action, McCain just agreed. What exactly is Obama going to do about this? That wasn't a political gesture on his part?

I thought you were joking, but alas no. How pathetic.

Part of me wonders is more is going on. Is McCain not doing well health-wise? Rudy had a "hiatus" from his campaign and it turned out to be a serious health issue at the time.

Obama should say that he cares very deeply about the economy of our country and he is committed to making it better. But the American people deserve to hear the presidential candidates debate. John McCain can do whatever he wants, but he (Obama) will be at the podium in Oxford, MS ready to debate. if McCain wants to stay in washington, that is fine. Obama will just use the entire time to answer all of the questions.

obama initiated talks about a joint statement, McCain suggested they bail on the debate. Obama is inclined to continue with the debate, McCain is desparate.

Hey, maybe McCain will get W to fire Cox!

petrfitz, do you understand the gravity of the problem the country is facing with this financial fiasco? Have you seen the corporate credit spreads? Do you know that US companies are having a very difficult time even rolling high quality commercial paper? Trust me, this sh*t is serious.

They may vote on the $700 bilion bailout legislation on Friday which wouldn't leave time for the debates, if a late vote. The debate can easily be rescheduled.

A leader puts his/her country first. A politico may do different but that wouldn't be a leader, would it?

I think a good leader can multi-task and how many hours is the debate?

"I think a good leader can multi-task and how many hours is the debate?"

First, the vote is in Washington & the debate is in Mississippi.

Two, I don't think anyone can multi task this. I see what these markets are doing everyday. It's serious.

I also work in finance - that's for explain that you see what these markets are doing everyday. ..great

It's a political stunt - that's my problem with it. I believe he hasn't voted in congress since April and thought our economy was fundamentally sound last week. He may have been surprised by the turn (unlike you).

Wow....Mississippi and DC. If only there was some sort of machine that coule fly through the air at great speeds to allow people to travel from one place to another in short amounts of time.

Darn!

Friday's debate would be McCain's strongest so i want to believe it's not a stunt to get out of the debate.

It could be a stunt for other reasons - perhaps they should have the VP debate instead then. This just seems like more than the statement to me. But yes, fair enough - I could be wrong.

From everywhere in the world people are seeing how americans get fooled again by republicans. They voted for a looser clown twice in a row, they let him make bad choice after bad choice, drown them into war and debt. A character like Palin couldn't get into a ticket to run a supermarket in other developed countries. The republicans are extremely good at manipulating deep fears and marketing empty images of patriotism. They are going to speed up the decline of the empire in front of Iran's smiling eyes. Sorry to say this, I know that is a taboo subject, but Mc Cain is a hero of a wrong war. He suffered a horrible pain that was gratuitous and he is going to act-out his karma by taking the world to III World War, like in a shakespearean tragedy. And then he is going to leave his post to Palin, the pretty defender of the white-patriarchal traditional values, who will try to take away of America all things that made this country great, including freedom. She even mocked Obama for "reading the rights" to an hypothetical terrorist prisoner. All the world can't be so wrong...if only americans could get out and see this crucial moment form outside...they could see this more clearly. Germans couldn't see very clearly neither at a certain point...when all the world was speaking loudly to them.

I'm with girlygirl on this. It's grandstanding. McCain needs to strut his stuff in his ostensibly weakest area and that's what he will do. This whole campaign seems like it's been scripted in Hollywood - Democrats and Republicans.

damn, mimi. well said! if you're running for anything, you got my vote!

won't we all sleep better tonight knowing that mcsame is headed to washington to "fix this mess!"

It looks to me that McCain rushes front and center before thinking through the situation whereas Obama thinks through the problem. Their individual reactions is in Obama's favor.

Waverly - right on target! Obama just made the same point.

Ummm...this debate topic is National Security which is in McCain's wheelhouse so why in the world would he want to postpone it?

Oh yeah, maybe cause the biggest financial crisis in decades is going on and maybe they should attend to it as "Senators"

It amazes me that people don't understand the magnitude of how important this "Bailout" is...just look to the credit markets for the clues....based on this I would like all hands on deck...even if in apperance only....

He's in NY right now until he finishes with the clinton speech thursday (if it is so important -he should just suspend now). These discussions are current and ongoing. . . .and the debate is not, just like his speech tomorrow.

The people on this site are pretty informed - we do understand the magnitude of the "bailout". Thanks for explaining that to us.

garelj says "this debate topic is National Security which is in McCain's wheelhouse so why in the world would he want to postpone it? "

why would he want to postpone it? For polticial purposes. He wants his strongest debate closer to the election.

Just because we think that your candidate is pulling a political stunt does not mean that we do not understand the gravity of the situtation. It seems that MccCain didn understand the gravity of the situation while it was actually happening.

the magnitude of the situation is that the Republicans ran our economy so bad that we basically have about 72 hours for the tax payers to bail out the banks or our economy will melt down into a depression.

We understand how badly the republicans ruined our economy - for sure.

I have no idea what you said...who is in NY? Suspend what? Discussions are current? Debate is not? Speech tommorrow?

McCain is in ny now. The bailout discussions are current and ongoing - i.e. not a 1-2 hour thing. McCain said he would suspend the campain after his speech for the Bill Clinton Foundation thursday. Sorry - just paying attention to the news a bit.

And the Democratic Congress was right there to rubber stamp it....Thanks Pelosi and Reid!

It will be very easy to spin any answer in this debate back to the economy. Well, our safety is the most important thing and we would have alot more money to deal with the financial crisis at home if we hadn't spent $600 billion on a war that started for weapons of mass distruction that never existed. And di I mention that I never voted for this war and McCain did.

It is so simple to pivot every answer back to the economy. It is also possible that McCain still is having difficulty telling the difference between Sunni and Shia, which would not go over so well in a debate.

I still think that something else is going on. McCain is allowing Obama to now frame the dialogue, which gives him an advantage. The only way you punt on this if you're McCain is if the alternative (having the debate) will be worse. The only way you make yourself look afraid to debate is if going out to debate would do greater damage. Something is amiss.

last I checked, those on the hook had a whole lot of Obama buttons...

Democrats are darlings of Wall St.
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/21/nation/na-wallstdems21

"Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, who are running for president as economic populists, are benefiting handsomely from Wall Street donations, easily surpassing Republican John McCain in campaign contributions from the troubled financial services sector."

And Fannie and Freddie contributed a whole lot more to Dems as well.

And lets not forget Barney Frank... and that whole thing they call "Congress" (led by Democrats)

He was against regulation before he was for regulation...

McCain suspends campaign; are TV ads next?

By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

John McCain on Wednesday suspended his presidential campaign. Now he's going back to Washington to do his real job -- serve as a senator and sort out the nation's financial problems.

Sorry..reading the Daily Koz or Huffington Post does not count as keeping up with the news

I live in NY and facilities let us know about all the street closings bc McCain will be next door soon. And he is giving the speech here tomorrow too.

I meant to write - I work in midtown and so we were notified about the street closings etc.

he thought the economy was sound before he thought is was a such a disaster he had to call off the debates! How reactionary and out of touch.

What happens if McCain is President and he has a major issue happening does he then stop running the rest of the country's needs?

Can he only focus on 1 major issue at once? You know that we have 2 different wars being fought. Will he stop fighting 1 while he concentrated on the other?

garelj - I am not peterfitz. I read many publications for my information - no need for that. I am more moderate than you might guess, but Palin made my decision very obvious. Let's leave it at that. I have voted for NY-type republicans (but add on that Palin, excessive hawkishness and I get very concerned).

"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," Obama said at a news conference in Clearwater, Fla. "It's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."

Not questioning your voting preferences, just your facts (as i like to keep them straight)

Now, how can he give a speech tommorrow in NYC when he is on his way back to Washington?

Unless he has now cancelled the Clinton speech, I would imagine the train or plane works very well. I imagine it could do the same as far as getting to MS on Friday evening too.

It is very important to see the candidates deal in real time with the current situation. They should not need to spend time preparing, as the future could bring even more pressing situations than now that could catch them off-guard, as 9/11. When an emergency hits, you show your spine. He has to be able to deal with being a working senator while keeping people posted on his current thoughts. If there is another war, he will need to talk to the american people while making decisions. It looks like when Bush was told about 9/11 and he stared blankly, frozen, for several minutes, while smiling at the kids in a school...

What part of "John McCain on Wednesday suspended his presidential campaign." was not clear?

And you really think he is going to take a train or plane back to NYC after leaving for Washington tonight?

I read that info earlier then - I apologize but i didn't go back. I had seen what I posted earlier and I guess it has changed since then. I didn't get any further info because I didn't look back on sites. Apologies for that. I do know that McCain is not on any of the subcommittees which are relevant for this and that he hasn't been in the Senate for quite a few months and so this seems like a stunt unfortunately. It's very dramatic behavior - hail mary type - trying to make a statement about leadership. so something smells funny to me. Apologies again on not reading updated news. I did not read up as recently.

My guess is Petrfitz would be blasting McCain if he hadn't done this, saying he cares more about debating and pandering than solving the financial crisis. It will always be a lose lose when it comes out of the fitz's mouth.

and this is def a stunt

my guess is, this used to be a real estate board.

not since Petr arrived.

We all make mistakes and offering an apology is something we should all do more often (god knows I blow it)

Unfortunately, Petrfitz doesn't know what that word means

Man, can we stop the partisan bickering,Petrfitz? If McCain and Obama could stop the mud slinging and sound biting and help Congress focus on this, it will be the first time either one has put country first in a while. And we need it. We've needed it for years, but can't change the past.

I don't understand how someone who thinks he can be President of the United States can't work on the crisis until Friday and then somehow leave the world to manage without him for 1.5 hours during a debate. That's just dumb. Why not suggest the debate be in D.C. if location is the problem? The vote may be Fri p.m.? Yeah, right. The Congress would force both candidates to miss the vote. Please. If the candidates want to debate and vote, I'm sure some scheduling adjustments of an hour or two could be arranged--this crisis took hold and got us to this awful place over at least 8 years; I don't think postponing a vote for 2 hours is going to make much difference.

McCain sucks for this. It's a pussy move that disgusts me. I expected more from him and the anger I feel is fueled in part because I'm really disappointed in him for doing this. I thought he was better than this. This is not a reassuring moment for any self-respecting Republican--this move serves not the party, the country, or the people. It serves only John McCain. Shame on him.

And when there wasn't a financial crisis, just the old, annoying, energy dependence/global warming liberal nonsense to work on, where was McCain? Campaiging, I think, according to this Thomas Friedman NYTimes editorial

Given the fact that Senator McCain deliberately avoided voting on all eight attempts to pass a bill extending the vital tax credits and production subsidies to expand our wind and solar industries, and given his support for lowering the gasoline tax in a reckless giveaway that would only promote more gasoline consumption and intensify our addiction to oil, and given his desire to make more oil-drilling, not innovation around renewable energy, the centerpiece of his energy policy — in an effort to mislead voters that support for drilling today would translate into lower prices at the pump today —McCain has forfeited any claim to be a green candidate.

McCain and Obama are both US Senators.
They have jobs that they are taking leaves from, with pay,
to campaign for President. Both are posturing on this,
but it is not at all unreasonable what McCain's posture
is suggesting - that US Senators belong in their offices
in DC 24/7 this week.

Now, why he can't then walk out and do a debate basically
ad-lib is beyond me, because he is a spontaneous-talker,
whereas Obama does not shine as well in off-the-cuff
settings. Which makes me suspect, as a few others
apparently do, that some other things may be going on.

***The Admiral is suspending his blogging on the pending NY real estate crash to focus on the economy***

I want all of you to suspend your blogging and focus on the economy, too...

No posting for three hours? I'm impressed. You guys really took this seriously.

You may resume posting now. Thank you.

McCain is chickenshit and an egoist and knows he will seem half as bright and twice as old as Obama, which is pretty accurate. He also knows if the economy really crashes under the Republicans he's finished. I'm sure that 98% of the Senate will do just as well or as poorly without them. Or move the debate to Washington and do a little multitasking.

"McCain is chickenshit and an egoist and knows he will seem half as bright and twice as old as Obama, which is pretty accurate."

Funny...considering the topic is National Security, O is hoping just to make it out of the debate alive

The republicans who are traditionally anti-bailout certainly have flip-flopped now that they realize they are potentially bailing out themselves and any possibility of a republican White House.

"Even an atheist believes in God in the foxhole"

Pragmatism trumps ideology at this point...

Besides its not a bailout, its an asset purchase

kgg, do you understand what this "bailout" entails?

ok.

all this talk about McCain and Obama and no one spotted Obama's
foot-in-mouth mistake "the person who will be responsible for
this problem in 40 days"

Correction - President Bush will responsible for this problem
until January 2009. That is more than 40 days away.

I know it's a minor point, but it's significant that the
McCain cheerleaders missed their point to jump all over one
of Obama's weaknesses, the glory of the race and who wins,
over the substance of office holding.

So two strikes against Obama and 12 against McCain, who
is using the bailout negotiations to gain tactical advantages
over Obama, but doesn't even notice when he DOES make Obama
look silly. Neither of these candidates is any better than
Bush, Junior.

That last comment focuses on the kind of false issue (like "lipstick-gage") that demeans us all in terms of how Americans evaluate candidates and approach this election. Thank you lowery for dumbing it all down just that little bit more.

Welll said, kylewest. How about the person who will "become" President-elect will "become" responsible for this problem in 40 days? The elections are in roughly 40 days, and I should hope that whoever is elected won't wait until January 2009 to begin assuming responsibility for financial policy generally and the current problem in particular. In any event, the January after the November election tradition is not decreed from on high. As a strictly constitutional matter, nothing in Article II (the part about the president) prohibits the President-elect from taking office as soon as the Electoral College votes have been counted (so long, that is, as s/he takes the oath of office prescribed by Article II). And now . . . back to RE.

McCain and Obama are doing a fine job of dumbing things down. Obama gets my vote, and like everyone else I have had more than enough information by now to make my decision. But the President just MIGHT have a point when he tries to bring the two stars of the show back to Washington when he's trying to focus everyone on an issue at hand so that they can work out a deal. He hasn't said to agree with him, and if they should be 40 days from now beginning their plans for solving the mess, why not start now?

Being a senator is now simply a sinecure. Free schedule, good pay, NO OBLIGATIONS, no accountability. Why do we even bother voting for a senate... Just pretending it means something. Anybody, really anybody can get into elected office now. That's the problem.

FYI - there are pictures of McCain at the Clinton Foundation Initiative from this morning. I guess he made it to NY for an event which took as long as the debate.

OMG, I actually agree w petrfitz!

I see McCain's logic but it's backfired. Obama's been coming across as cool, calm and collected. The American people want to see both candidates debate - and what better time than now. I personally want to see how each one responds to tough questions - and the ones who can do it effectively in the wake of the current crisis will get lots of votes.

I stand corrected on McCain being in Washington...but he changed overnight due to the 4:00 PM tee time set for Obama and his photo op at the Whitehouse to sign off on the deal....

"his" being McCain

Actually - i think i was just right before because his appearance a that Clinton thing was never cancelled yesterday - that's what I was saying. He has time for other "speeches".

Its not a campaign "speech"(speaking in front of voters)....its a keynote "speech" commitment to the former president so at the least he would have been on satellite from Washington (like O will be)

We have the same info - but are clearly interpreting it very differently.

Just seems that McCain's campaign didn't handle this properly. He was supposed to appear on Letterman but cancelled to be in DC, then Letterman showed McCain abt to be interviewed by Katie Couric. Although his intentions appeared noble, he came across as a hypocrite.

I don't know the true facts here, but it created a negative impression.

McCain's camp caught wind of some "curveball" questions Letterman was going to ask him....after the disaster on "The View", they thought twice...

On to good news...

Gallup Daily: Race Back to a Tie at 46% Each
September 25, 2008

John McCain has gained ground and is now tied with Barack Obama among registered voters in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update for Sept. 22-24, with each candidate getting 46% support.

Mccain got ripped by Letterman on his show. What a phony this guy is, Letterman got quite pissed. Mccain said he was already boarding for Washington since he's suspending his campaign and working the crisis, then a few minutes later you could see him preparing for Katie Couric's interview. What a joke! And how come Sarah Palin is off-limits? They're guarding her like a some precious and fragile object. Let her loose!

Katie Couric is a news reporter...david letterman used to be a comedian. There is a world of difference giving Katie an interview and being slammed by letterman. Letterman has crossed the line that he's no longer funny but has become the don rickles of tv.

"Katie Couric is a news reporter..."

Tell that to Matt Lauer. ROTFL.