McCain Paralyzed with Fear Over Debate!
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| Thu, 09-25-2008 - 3:53am |
John McCain is running as far and fast as he can from Ole Miss and his first televised debate against Barack Obama. lol. Watching McCain lie that he had to go back to Washington because he is "needed" is laughable. The real work is already being done, so all he will do is distract the people who know something about the economy.
So, I am on to John's trick to get up close and personal with the economic specialists in the hopes that some of that knowledge will rub off on him. He's sadly mistaken, because if he hasn't grasped the concept of the economy by 73, then it "ain't" gonna' happen. lol.
Suspending his campaign is broadcasting to the world that he is too afraid to concentrate and any excuse will do. That proposal needs to be done by Thursday, so that McCain can say...oh, well I don't think we should debate until every soldier in Iraq is home safely. (sigh)
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=3105455&page=1
Economics 101: Presidential Debate in Doubt?
Can Obama and McCain Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time?
By KAREN TRAVERS and RIGEL ANDERSON
September 24, 2008
RSS There are just over 48 hours until the first scheduled presidential debate but the whole event may be up in the air with the surprise announcement from John McCain that he is suspending his campaign and asking for the debate to be postponed while Congress hammers out a Wall Street bailout plan.
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced in a statement that it's game on as far as they are concerned tonight:
Can McCain and Obama assist with the bailout and debate foreign policy?
(Reuters /AP Photo)"The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is moving forward with its plan for the first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. this Friday, September 26. The plans for this forum have been underway for more than a year and a half. The CPD's mission is to provide a forum in which the American public has an opportunity to hear the leading candidates for the president of the United States debate the critical issues facing the nation. We believe the public will be well served by having all of the debates go forward as scheduled."
As the story develops, some key points on where things stand:
Should the debate go forward?
McCain: No. "I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis." Senior Aide Mark Salter said McCain would participate in the debate if Congress passed an agreement by Friday morning.
Obama: Yes. "I believe that we should continue to have the debate…It's my belief that this is exact time when the American people need to hear form the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsibly for dealing with this mess and I think that it is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."
Suspend campaign events?
McCain: Will deliver his speech at the Clinton Global Initiative Thursday morning but will not appear on The Late Show with David Letterman Wednesday night. McCain had no campaign events scheduled for Thursday.
Obama: Had no campaign events scheduled between now and Friday's debate Return to Washington?
McCain: Announced he will return to Washington after his CGI speech. A Democrat tells ABC News' Jake Tapper that in a phone call late this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told McCain that it would NOT be helpful for him to come back to Washington, DC, to work on the Wall Street bailout bill.
Obama: Will stay in Florida for the time being and will NOT return to Washington unless asked by Congressional leadership and it is not the time to infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics. "I've told the leadership in congress is that if I can be helpful then I am prepared to be anywhere at anytime."
Suspending ads?
McCain: Yes
Obama: No
Voting on the bailout plan as it stands?
Neither candidate has indicated yet how they would vote but a senior McCain campaign official told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that the "Bush package is dead."
Friday's debate will focus on foreign policy, the issue that John McCain has consistently polled higher than Barack Obama on through this general election season. This debate was seen as a chance for McCain to start off with a solid performance on a familiar topic and perhaps get a game changing moment out of it. With national polls showing his convention bounce erased and state polls showing Obama ahead in several key battleground states, McCain could use the debate to give a burst of momentum and start off this next three week period with some wind at his back.
(And is it perhaps a little bit ironic that the candidate who called for weekly debates is the one to say the first match-up should be postponed?)
What about the Univ. of Mississippi, the host of Friday's debate?
ABC News' Tahman Bradley reports that a senior University of Mississippi official said cancelling the debate would be "devastating" for the university which has already invested millions in preparation for the debate.
Andrew Mullins, special assistant to university Chancellor Robert Khayat, told Bradley that the Ole Miss campus has been transformed to accommodate the candidates and the press. Road blocks are in place on campus and in the community and the debate television set for the candidates has already been constructed. He said the university has spent roughly five and half million dollars getting ready for the debate.


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Millions of dollars have been spent. McCain needs to stop shaking in his boots and show his foundation laden face. lol.
http://www.olemiss.edu/debate/
The Debate Starts Here
The University of Mississippi community is pleased to host the first presidential debate of 2008 on September 26. Foreign policy and national security issues will be the focus of the 8:00 p.m. (CDT) debate, and several related events showcase the university’s institutes and centers that are working to find solutions to this country’s challenges.
Check this site for more information, resources, and ways to get involved in this historic event that will be viewed around the world. Media arrival and check-in information available.
This is Ole Miss, and the debate starts here.
Awwww. Dave. lol.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/letterman-attacks-mccain_n_129467.html
Letterman Attacks McCain Day 2: "I Feel Like An Ugly Date" (VIDEO)
| DAVID BAUDER | September 25, 2008 at 11:19 PM
Share Print CommentsNEW YORK — "Late Show" host David Letterman kept up a verbal assault on John McCain Thursday, saying he felt like an "ugly date" because the GOP presidential candidate backed out of a scheduled appearance on his talk show.
The night before, Letterman had said McCain's decision to suspend his campaign to deal with the economic crisis "didn't smell right." Letterman substituted MSNBC's "Countdown" host _ and critic of the Arizona senator _ Keith Olbermann when McCain called him to say he wouldn't appear Wednesday.
The comic was unhappy when McCain sat for an interview with Katie Couric instead of him Wednesday _ and even more perturbed to learn that McCain didn't leave New York until Thursday.
He said he felt like a "patriot" to let McCain off his commitment to deal with the economy and "now I'm feeling like an ugly date."
"That's what I feel like, I feel like an ugly date," he said. "I feel used. I feel cheap. I feel sullied."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/obama-will-make-debate-a_n_129250.html
Obama Will Make Debate A Townhall If McCain Doesn't Show
stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust mixx.com September 25, 2008 11:45 AM
Barack Obama is committed to hosting a public, televised event Friday night in Mississippi even if John McCain does not show up, an official close to the Obama campaign tells the Huffington Post.
In McCain's absence, the Senator is willing to make the scheduled debate a townhall meeting, a one-on-one interview with NewsHour's Jim Lehrer, or the combination of the two, the official said.
Such a course of action could make life incredibly difficult for McCain, who has called for the suspension of the debate in light of the current economic crisis. Should he stay in Washington D.C. -- if a bailout is not completed by then -- and let Obama alone reach tens of millions of television viewers?
A lot, of course, depends upon what the debate commission decides to do. At this point in time, there is no indication that they are going to postpone the affair, as the McCain campaign has asked.
Separately, on Thursday, Obama himself said he was intending to go to Oxford, Miss for the scheduled debate and called on McCain to be there with him.
"The American people deserve to hear directly from myself and Sen. McCain about how we intend to lead our country," Obama said. "The times are too serious to put our campaign on hold, or to ignore the full range of issues that the next president will face."
Meanwhile, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said on Thursday that he expected the debate to go forward as planned.
UPDATE: An adviser Barack Obama says he expects John McCain to attend:
"I actually think he's going to come to the debate," the adviser, Robert Gibbs, told reporters in Washington on Thursday.
And echoing a talking point that Senator Obama used in his press conference on Thursday, Mr. Gibbs added: "I think he will decide that a president is capable of doing more than one thing at a time."
UPDATE II:: More from the AP:
John McCain's campaign expressed cautious optimism Thursday as congressional Republicans and Democrats agreed in principle on a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry hours before the two presidential candidates were to meet with President Bush on the crisis.
Even so, the action didn't appear to be strong enough to convince McCain to attend Friday's scheduled presidential debate. His campaign has said he wouldn't participate unless there was consensus between Congress and the administration, and a spokesman said the afternoon developments had not changed his plans.
UPDATE III: McCain aide Tucker Bounds tells MSNBC, "we're going into the debates."
I thought McCain "suspended" his campaign...no ads included.
He suspended his activities, ie...appearances and practicing for the debate.
I decided to look and see because I could have sworn I read that he was pulling his ads and found this.
This is the last line in the article:
"McCain senior adviser Mark Salter said the campaign suspension would include pulling McCain's television ads."
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE48N7ZP20080924
I'm right there with you. Last night as I was forwarding through a show I had TiVo'd earlier in the evening I thought I saw a McCain ad so I backed it up... YUP!
I'm tending to agree with you. What you said makes a lot of sense.
But unfortunately the original assertion doesn't make any.
It is just silly to suggest that Senator Mccain is too scared to debate. Someone that frail wouldn't have weathered the whole primary process especially when the ads were stacked against him.
Not to mention the debate topic is one of national defense. This is arguably his strongest area.
I'm not sure if this man put his country first a hundred times that it would make any difference to some of the closed minds there are out there.
But to claim he's made it all up because he's "scared" ? Let's get real.
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