By BILLY HOUSE and WILLIAM MARCH/Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON -- Country first?
Or cynical political ploy?
Slumping in some polls, Sen. John McCain’s sudden call Wednesday for the postponement of the general election's first presidential debate Friday in Oxford, Miss., was being praised by allies, but ridiculed by opponents.
“I believe we should continue to have the debate,” responded Barack Obama in Clearwater, later re-emphazing, “What I’m preparing to do is debate on Friday.”
The debate over the debate erupted after McCain announced that he and Obama need to quit campaigning, and come back to Washington to help Congress address the nation’s financial crisis.
“We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved,” said McCain. “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.”
“Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative,” McCain also said. “I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.”
But Obama said it was he who had initiated the contact with McCain earlier in the day, asking in private telephone calls that they work together to see if they could issue a joint statement on a bailout plan.
Obama said McCain had mentioned during a second afternoon call that he was going to fly to Washington, and that “perhaps we should suspend the debate.”
“I thought this was something he was mulling over,” said Obama, who added that he learned only, “When I got back to hotel he had gone on television to announce what he had intended to do.”
“My general view is the American people need to know what it is we intend to do in moving the economy forward," said Obama.
Obama added this jab: “Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time.”
The independent Commission on Presidential Debates said it intends to still hold the debate; and the University of Mississippi said it expected the debate to go on as scheduled.
McCain’s campaign did not return telephone calls to say whether he would appear at the debate if Obama does what he says and shows up on Friday night.
Ross Baker, a Rutgers University political scientist, said McCain’s surprise announcement was “clearly meant to take back the campaign’s narrative from Obama.” He said that Obama has been rising in the polls of the race, and that McCain is seeking to find some way to turn that around.
“His motivation is clearly political, definitely contrived,” said Baker of McCain’s announcement that he is suspending his campaign so he can return to Washington to help broker a deal on how to address the nation’s economic crisis.
Baker added: “I think that if he could add anything to the debate and negotiations, that would be a good idea. His vote as a senator matters. But by his own admission, his knowledge of economics is fairly primitive.”
But congressional Democrats were more harsh that Baker – and they rejected the notion that McCain’s call to suspend the presidential campaign would take some of the heat off their negotiations on crafting a finalized Wall Street bailout bill.
"Senator McCain sounds like a man in a 100 yard race who is 50 yards out, 25 yards behind and wants to suspend the race,” said House Majority Leader Steny of Maryland.
House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts said on MSNBC that he believes that McCain, facing “bad polls,” has decided “to come in and take credit for something that is happening without him.”
“Frankly, it would be more distracting for Sen. McCain to come in here (Washington) with his entourage right now and try to interject himself into the (bailout bill) negotiations,” said Frank.
And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement he did not believe the debate needed to be postponed.
Reid also said, "it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation's economy. If that changes, we will call upon them," said Reid. "We need leadership; not a campaign photo op."
"If there were ever a time for both candidates to hold a debate before the American people about this serious challenge, it is now," he said.
But McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers responded in a statement that “this is quite a reversal from yesterday (Tuesday), when Senator Reid told reporters, ‘We need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands and what we should do.”
“Unfortunately, Senator Reid is putting partisan politics ahead of the business of the American people. But there should be no mistake: 24 hours ago Reid and his Democratic colleagues on the Hill couldn't have been more desperate for Senator McCain's help in resolving this crisis. Now they've got it,” said Rogers.
Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior economic advisor, also defended McCain's announcement on MSNBC. He said the country is facing an "economic meltdown" and "it's time to stand down from partisan politics."
"By Gosh, if you want leadership, this is a perfect example of what John McCain is," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com or at 1 (202) 662-7673 and reporter William March can be reached at wmarch@tamapatrib.com or at 1 (813) 259-7761.
Or cynical political ploy?
Slumping in some polls, Sen. John McCain’s sudden call Wednesday for the postponement of the general election's first presidential debate Friday in Oxford, Miss., was being praised by allies, but ridiculed by opponents.
“I believe we should continue to have the debate,” responded Barack Obama in Clearwater, later re-emphazing, “What I’m preparing to do is debate on Friday.”
The debate over the debate erupted after McCain announced that he and Obama need to quit campaigning, and come back to Washington to help Congress address the nation’s financial crisis.
“We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved,” said McCain. “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.”
“Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative,” McCain also said. “I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.”
But Obama said it was he who had initiated the contact with McCain earlier in the day, asking in private telephone calls that they work together to see if they could issue a joint statement on a bailout plan.
Obama said McCain had mentioned during a second afternoon call that he was going to fly to Washington, and that “perhaps we should suspend the debate.”
“I thought this was something he was mulling over,” said Obama, who added that he learned only, “When I got back to hotel he had gone on television to announce what he had intended to do.”
“My general view is the American people need to know what it is we intend to do in moving the economy forward," said Obama.
Obama added this jab: “Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time.”
The independent Commission on Presidential Debates said it intends to still hold the debate; and the University of Mississippi said it expected the debate to go on as scheduled.
McCain’s campaign did not return telephone calls to say whether he would appear at the debate if Obama does what he says and shows up on Friday night.
Ross Baker, a Rutgers University political scientist, said McCain’s surprise announcement was “clearly meant to take back the campaign’s narrative from Obama.” He said that Obama has been rising in the polls of the race, and that McCain is seeking to find some way to turn that around.
“His motivation is clearly political, definitely contrived,” said Baker of McCain’s announcement that he is suspending his campaign so he can return to Washington to help broker a deal on how to address the nation’s economic crisis.
Baker added: “I think that if he could add anything to the debate and negotiations, that would be a good idea. His vote as a senator matters. But by his own admission, his knowledge of economics is fairly primitive.”
But congressional Democrats were more harsh that Baker – and they rejected the notion that McCain’s call to suspend the presidential campaign would take some of the heat off their negotiations on crafting a finalized Wall Street bailout bill.
"Senator McCain sounds like a man in a 100 yard race who is 50 yards out, 25 yards behind and wants to suspend the race,” said House Majority Leader Steny of Maryland.
House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts said on MSNBC that he believes that McCain, facing “bad polls,” has decided “to come in and take credit for something that is happening without him.”
“Frankly, it would be more distracting for Sen. McCain to come in here (Washington) with his entourage right now and try to interject himself into the (bailout bill) negotiations,” said Frank.
And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement he did not believe the debate needed to be postponed.
Reid also said, "it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation's economy. If that changes, we will call upon them," said Reid. "We need leadership; not a campaign photo op."
"If there were ever a time for both candidates to hold a debate before the American people about this serious challenge, it is now," he said.
But McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers responded in a statement that “this is quite a reversal from yesterday (Tuesday), when Senator Reid told reporters, ‘We need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands and what we should do.”
“Unfortunately, Senator Reid is putting partisan politics ahead of the business of the American people. But there should be no mistake: 24 hours ago Reid and his Democratic colleagues on the Hill couldn't have been more desperate for Senator McCain's help in resolving this crisis. Now they've got it,” said Rogers.
Doug Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior economic advisor, also defended McCain's announcement on MSNBC. He said the country is facing an "economic meltdown" and "it's time to stand down from partisan politics."
"By Gosh, if you want leadership, this is a perfect example of what John McCain is," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com or at 1 (202) 662-7673 and reporter William March can be reached at wmarch@tamapatrib.com or at 1 (813) 259-7761.