WASHINGTON - Democrat Barack Obama rejected Republican opponent John McCain's call on Wednesday for a delay in their upcoming debate, as McCain announced he planned to suspend his campaign and return to Washington to focus on the U.S. financial meltdown.
Obama said his campaign and that of McCain were still working on a joint statement urging a prompt bipartisan deal on the $700 billion bailout package sent to Congress earlier this week by the Bush administration. In rejecting McCain's attempt to put off Friday's foreign policy debate, Obama said American voters needed to hear the candidates' views "now more than ever." Political observers immediately began their own debate about whether McCain was trying to distract attention from his significant dip in the polls as the financial crisis gripped voter attention. A Washington Post-ABC News poll that showed him suddenly trailing Obama by 9 percentage points, 52-43. In rejecting a debate delay, Obama also declined to join McCain in suspending campaign activities, saying both he and his opponent had jets that could get them to Washington very quickly if their presence were needed. He said he had been in daily contact with congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and didn't see an immediate need for his presence. The University of Mississippi, which was hosting the event, said it too was moving ahead with preparations because it had "received no notification of any change in the timing or venue." The debate commission also said it was moving forward. Even before Obama said he wanted to go forward with the debate, spokesman Bill Burton issued a statement saying that McCain made his announcement unilaterally moments after agreeing to joint action by both candidates that was initiated by Obama in a personal phone call to McCain early Wednesday. "At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal. At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama's call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details," Burton's statement said. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers fired back that Obama did not reach McCain Wednesday morning. "Senator Obama phoned Senator McCain at 8:30 a.m. this morning but did not reach him," Rogers said in a statement. "The topic of Senator Obama's call to Senator McCain was never discussed. Senator McCain was meeting with economic advisers and talking to leaders in Congress throughout the day prior to calling Senator Obama. At 2:30 p.m., Senator McCain phoned Senator Obama and expressed deep concern that the plan on the table would not pass as it currently stands. He asked Senator Obama to join him in returning to Washington to lead a bipartisan effort to solve this problem." In a separate statement Rogers said the campaign also would suspend advertising and fundraising. McCain warned of dire consequences if Congress did not act quickly even as the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate were struggling to find agreement on a $700 billion bailout package sent to Congress this week by the Bush administration. "If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen," he said in a statement he read in New York City. At a subsequent news conference in Tampa, Florida, Obama said action needed to be both prompt and prudent. "We have to act swiftly, but we also have to get it right," the first- term Illinois senator said. The debates between the candidates were becoming increasingly important as voters face economic uncertainty as deep as any since 1932, when the country turned to the leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Great Depression. As the Washington Post-ABC News survey indicated the financial turmoil was boosting Obama's standing, a different survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press showed people favoring the Democrat on the economy, with 47 percent saying he would best handle the financial turmoil, as opposed to 35 percent who favored McCain. McCain has tried to tie Obama to troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and has called on Jim Johnson and Franklin Raines — both Obama supporters and former Fannie Mae executives — to return large "golden parachute" payments they received from the corporations after leaving. But McCain's campaign manager Ric Davis drew some unwelcome attention in news reports Tuesday that Freddie Mac had been paying $15,000 a month to Davis' lobbying firm until shortly before the takeover. The money to the Davis firm was on top of more than $30,000 a month that went directly to McCain's campaign chief for five years starting in 2000. The $30,000 a month came from both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which were rescued by the government earlier this month. The McCain campaign said Davis left the firm — Davis Manafort — and stopped taking salary from the firm in 2006. A person familiar with the contract, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the $15,000 a month in payments to Davis' firm began around the end of 2005 and continued until the past month or so. All the payments were first reported by The New York Times. McCain's campaign issued a lengthy broadside against the newspaper early Wednesday, calling the report "demonstrably false" and declaring it a "partisan assault aimed at promoting that paper's preferred candidate, Barack Obama." The response did not address the reported $15,000 month payments to Davis Manafort, but focused on Davis having separated himself from the firm in 2006. - AP On Sep 24, 6:02 pm, VT Sean Lewis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Presidents should be able to do more than one thing at a time. > > Obama says he is able to do this, > > Mccain admits he can not. > > On Sep 24, 6:00 pm, VT Sean Lewis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > He is trying to stop the bleeding in the polls, get back in the spot > > light, reverse the errors on his stance on the robust economy > > from last week, save money, and keep Palin away from the > > press and maybe postpone her debate also. Reschedule for > > the same day as the VP debate? > > > Of course Bush speaking tonight really screws McCain. > > > What is Bush going to say, Trust me! I really am telling the truth > > this time! > > > McCain is Damned if he does and Damned if he doesn't. > > > UPDATE: McCain has contacted the Debate Commission to POSTPONE the VP > > Debate so that he and Obama can debate on this date instead, with the > > VP's > > to debate at a time in the future! > > > LMAO!!!!!!!!!! > > > Who is he fooling!- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
