McCain: Scrap Friday Debate for Bailout; Obama: The Debate is On
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Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Wednesday said he would “suspend” his presidential campaign to come to Washington to help negotiate a financial bailout bill and argued Friday’s first presidential debate should be scrapped — a dramatic move designed to seize a powerful issue.
McCain said he called on the Commission on Presidential Debates to postpone the debate scheduled for Friday in Mississippi, to ensure quick congressional action.
“I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me,” McCain said in New York City Wednesday. “I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.”
Preparing for the debate in Florida, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama held a previously unscheduled news conference, arguing the debate should go on.
“I believe that we should continue to have the debate,” Obama said. “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.”
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Obama also said he, McCain and other officials could address the crisis in a bipartisan fashion and still go on with the campaign, noting that multi-tasking comes with the office.
“It is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once,” he noted.