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Don't delay the debate

Change the topic, not the schedule

Rocky Mountain News

Published September 25, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America.

In this case, Barack Obama is right. "It's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once," he said in response to McCain's desire to delay their first debate.

"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," the Democrat also said.

True, but do the American people "need to hear" on Friday what McCain and Obama think about foreign policy? That, after all, is the topic of the first debate. A later debate is slated to cover the economy.

No, rather than postpone the first debate, the candidates should maintain the current schedule but alter the order of topics. They should debate economic policy Friday, with a particular focus on the present credit crisis.

It would be odd indeed to see the two men who are vying to become the next president of the United States fail to mention the financial crisis when they take the stage in the midst of the meltdown.

On the other hand, if McCain wants to suspend his campaign so he can spend more time in Washington to have a greater hands-on role in dealing with legislation being crafted to address the crisis, he is free to do so. "I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands," he said Wednesday, which is probably an accurate assessment of the resistance the plan is meeting on Capitol Hill.

Nevertheless, we don't really see the benefit for McCain or the nation in the suspension of the campaign. There will be an election in a few weeks, no matter what condition Wall Street and the economy are in at the time. McCain needs to keep making his case to the American people about what needs to be done.

When the history of campaign 2008 is written, the single pivotal event of that nearly two-year slog may be the Wall Street meltdown and the associated federal takeovers and bailouts.

The beneficiary, at least so far, seems to be Obama. Both candidates appear to have been groping in their approach to the fiasco on Wall Street, but a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that the voters, for whatever reason, put slightly more faith in Obama than McCain.

The Post-ABC poll also said that the 9 percent who thought the economy was in good shape was the first time economic optimism had fallen to single digits since 1992 and that the 14 percent who thought the country was heading in the right direction was the lowest since 1973. Half the voters now think the economy is the single most important issue of the campaign.

The upshot is that in a race that polls have shown teetering back and forth within the margin of error, Obama may now have taken a clear lead.

As you may recall, the Clinton campaign rode into office with the mantra, "It's the economy, stupid."

Apparently it still is.

Comments

  • September 25, 2008

    12:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    freemarketworks writes:

    "It's the economy, stupid." That's exactly why McCain is in D.C. to battle for the bail-out legislation. Currently, it's the Republicans that are standing in the way of legislation with reforms attached. I think this will play out in McCain's favor as he becomes the center-point in passing a bill and still makes it to the Friday debate. Such strategy would leave Obama in a very precarious position.

    We'll see how it all plays out; however, there are very smart people on both sides of this chess-match.

  • September 25, 2008

    5:43 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    dilligaf writes:

    When asked a couple of months ago by a reporter why he voted against insurance companies covering birth control pills for women but is for men being covered for Viagra he was deer in the headlights. Or how about how many homes he owned and didn't have an answer. And how about when asked how much money separates the middle class and being rich and he said 5 million a year.
    Well John I say good decision to avoid debating. It could be a disaster for you.

  • September 25, 2008

    6:17 a.m.

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    TW writes:

    What is McSame afraid of?

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/...

  • September 25, 2008

    6:55 a.m.

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    NavyChief writes:

    Gotta disagree with this editorial. Both the candidates are currently drawing pay for being senators. That means they are being paid by the citizens of their respective states to address issues like this. When the government is talking about paying over 1/2 a trillion dollars in the taxpayers money, the elected representative need to be present for the vote.

    And don't forget people, this all began in 1992 when the mortgage institutions were instructed by the Clinton administaration to lower the long standing requirements for qualifying for loans. This lead to the entire fiasco we have now. An artificail housing bubble was created and it has burst 16 years later.

    Additionally, one of the current candidates tried in 2005 to address this issue and was shut down by congress. This is a critical issue and I for one like the fact that McCain has the fortitude to put the debate on hold. Another debate can always be scheduled, this critical vote can not and the elected officials need to be there to cast their vote, and just voting present, like one of them has a habit of doing, won't cut it.

    Make them do their job and represent the people in their states. Neither is president yet, and they still have a job to do.

  • September 25, 2008

    7:56 a.m.

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    JYP3500 writes:

    McCain is showing leadership. Barack is showing timidness. McCain is rolling up his sleeves as a Senator and trying to "get-r-done". Barack wants to shuck & jive.

    Let's face it, Barack has looked bad in every debate so far. And in a foreign policy debate with McCain, he will get eaten alive. That's why Barack wants the debate on a Friday night when most Americans will be at happy hour or watching football games.

  • September 25, 2008

    8:11 a.m.

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    INC writes:

    McSame is cowardly for attempting to pass on the debates. then even more so in trying to further sequester palin.

    McSame is trying to take credit where he deserves NONE.

    Debate Obama McSame! why are you running scared? Is it because you know you will LOOSE?

    Obama/Biden '08

  • September 25, 2008

    8:53 a.m.

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    sstnt writes:

    They do not NEED Obama in Washington. He is a Junior Senator, and his party is in control of both houses and his party leadership can handle it.

    On the other hand, there are a lot of Republicans against this plan. Added to the Democrats who are against it, it could sink any plan. McCain, as a Senior Senator and leader in his party, was specifically needed to come back to Washington to help to get this plan approved.

    If everything aligns PERFECTLY, maybe this plan will get through by tomorrow. VERY unlikely. Most likely, he will be needed through the entire weekend to get this plan through. The debate is NOT time critical...this plan IS.

    And just FYI, it was Obama that requested that the subjects be switched, with National Security first and Economy second, not McCain.

  • September 25, 2008

    9:54 a.m.

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    dilligaf writes:

    But Tbone Saddam is going to kill us any day now. We need to hurry. (MORE SCARE TACTICS) The Republicans platform.

  • September 25, 2008

    10:04 a.m.

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    Carol_H writes:

    If Winston Churchill could leave London in December 1941 and travel to America to address a joint session of Congress even as British troops in the Far East were reeling under Japanese attacks, somehow we think John McCain can make his way down to Oxford, Miss., for a debate Friday evening without imperiling the future of America

    I think your opening paragraph actually lends support to McCain's going to Congress.

    Yes, British troops were fighting; but Churchill knew they would eventually lose the war if Britain could not secure American support. Even after the US entered the war in Dec 1941, many Americans thought the focus should be on Japan. In Jan 1942, the Chicago Tribune was writing, "We can get along without them. They can't get along without out us."

    Churchill traveled to America to address Congress because THAT was the MOST important place for him to be.

  • September 25, 2008

    10:10 a.m.

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    FromTexas writes:

    McCain just admitted he hasn't read the bailout plan - 3 pages. This is a political stunt just like Palin. The democrats have agreed to the bailout and it's in republicans hands now though there has been much bipartisan support. McCain swoops in to take credit. Please. Americans are not stupid.

  • September 25, 2008

    10:21 a.m.

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    Maven writes:

    Hmm - I understand the need for both senators to participate in this but McCain has been absent from a number of key Senate votes for months, and now he sees the need to exert leadership? This rings very false to me.

  • September 25, 2008

    10:45 a.m.

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    peterpi writes:

    McCain's missed more votes than a Senator who is recovering from a severe stroke, but now he's going to suspend the campaign, because he's needed? He's going to ride in on a white horse and save Wall Street, truth, justice, and the American Way?
    And you Obama critics say Obama's got a messiah complex. Sheesh! This is pure politics and everyone knows it.
    There were presidential campaigns during the Civil War Between the States, during the Great Depression, and during the biggest war the US ever fought, WWII. If John McCain can't meet with the president and debate one day later, he should retire. President Bush constantly has several issues boiling simultaneously, it's the nature of the job.
    The bailout is about saving Wall Street brokerages and big banks from going belly up because they got in way over their heads. The Treasury is going to whip up $700 billion out of thin air to save their sorry asses. When those same turkeys are asked to pay the government back once they're profitable again, they will scream "That's commie socialism!"
    But, let politicians suggest helping some poor schmoe who got in over his head with a mortgage by simply re-structuring the loan, and these same Republican will scream "He needs to learn personal responsibility!"
    So, the moral, guys and gals, is: If you're going to be irresponsible, do it in a spectacularly big way. Then the president will bail you out.
    The bail-out stinks.

  • September 25, 2008

    12:37 p.m.

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    dilligaf writes:

    This issue has been solved. Settlement has been reached. Now John get back out there and debate.

  • September 25, 2008

    1:07 p.m.

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    no_more_republicans writes:

    "Both candidates appear to have been groping in their approach to the fiasco on Wall Street, but a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that the voters, for whatever reason, put slightly more faith in Obama than McCain."

    For whatever reason???? That's ridiculous - the reason voters have more faith in Mr. Obama rather than Mr. McCain is because Mr. McCain has been apart of the problem for the last 26 years. Regardless of the spin of the media and the Republican party, the people see through this scam.

    If Bush says we need something, that's reason enough NOT to do it. Do you think there's any coincidence that every possible disaster that could happen has happened on the watch of this president? It ain't his luck - George W. Bush is the worst president in American history, and John McCain was right there, holding his jock for him, the whole way.

    I say let the industry crash. Giving them $700 billion is just going to mean that it's going to happen again in 20 years - just like it happened 20 years ago, when we bailed those a******s out then, too (surely, it's a coincidence that industry always needs to be bailed out to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars everytime we come to the end of a long Republican rule?). Sure, it's going to be devastating to our economy - but, you know what? Fine - we've needed a corrective ever since Reagan came in, and now we're going to have one.

    That's your free market.

  • September 25, 2008

    1:24 p.m.

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    cjc1951 writes:

    I'd say Mccaint is using this as his way to 'cut and run' from the debates. The man isnt needed, they have put together a resolution without his help. Maybe he should have read the 1st one last week instead of waiting 4 days?

  • September 25, 2008

    2:36 p.m.

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    BuffDriver writes:

    Obama wants to 'multi-task'--McCain wants to 'prioritze'. Putting the country before a 90-minute TV show shows McCain has better judgment....'presidential'.

  • September 25, 2008

    5 p.m.

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    Simian writes:

    God knows I love John McCain for what he's done for the country in the past, but he has totally lost it. He's chasing his own tail on the financial crisis. One day he thinks everything's ok, next day his hair is on fire because there's going to be a depression. There's something wrong with him. Watch his left eye. No way I'm voting for a 72 year old who's probably having a stroke or has Alzheimers, especially with that empty skirt Palin a heartbeat away.

  • September 25, 2008

    5:11 p.m.

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    jay writes:

    i can't believe we have so many footsoldiers being fooled into believing that either candidate has a chance to "work" on this bill.

    it has been in committee all week. neither candidate is on said committee.

    now...either mcsame is ignorant about that....or he's running from an honest debate.

    which is it?

  • September 25, 2008

    9:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Oh_Wise_One writes:

    Didn't Obambi hide all summer long when challenged to debate by John McCain? What a chickenbleep Comrade Urkel is.

  • September 26, 2008

    7:27 a.m.

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    taoistblockhead writes:

    Americans have a choice - Validate the fear-mongering Shock and Awe Economic and Military Terrorist Tactics of the current Unitary Executive and vote for a continuation of the Right Wing Rovian Fascist Agenda with the biggest joke ticket ever, i.e. McCain and Palin ...

    Or Wake Up and vote Obama/Biden and move the nation forward.

    Wrap yourself in the flag or restore rule by law and the Constitutional Republic.

  • September 26, 2008

    8:52 a.m.

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    Achilles writes:

    I do not understand the big concern to have a debate tonight. What is the rush? The debates will happen. They can be rescheduled. Why the sudden urgency to have a debate tonight?

  • September 26, 2008

    9:13 a.m.

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    Mike_In_Hartsel writes:

    taoistblockhead - those voices in your head are working overtime.

    Stick to the schedule. It's too soon for the economy debate. Let this play out more.

  • September 26, 2008

    9:27 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ItsJustme writes:

    Wow, Taoist..., cut and paste and cut and paste and cut and paste in every blog. Do you have anything like an original argument that supports your opinion? Can you frame it in a logical sequence or are you just going to spend your time parroting the same old same old over and over and over and over? (Gets monotonous, doesn't it?)