ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last updated: 11:04 am
September 26, 2008
Posted: 11:03 am
September 26, 2008
WASHINGTON - Hours before the premiere presidential debate was scheduled to begin Friday night, Republican John McCain's attendance was still in doubt as Congress and the Bush administration continued to negotiate a Wall Street bailout plan.
McCain met briefly Friday morning with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, before heading to his campaign headquarters. He has pledged to stay in Washington to work on a deal that would address the financial crisis, even if it meant postponing the debate.
But there were signs McCain was looking for a face-saving way to make the debate, even if a deal wasn't sealed. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., McCain's representative in debate negotiations, suggested that McCain would find some way to make it to the event scheduled for 9 p.m. EDT at the University of Mississippi.
"What's more important than anything that when we go to Mississippi tonight, both candidates can say that the Congress is working, back in business, that we have an outline or proposal that will protect the taxpayer and save the country from financial Pearl Harbor, as Warren Buffet called it," Graham said on "Today" on NBC. "We are not there yet, but we will get there."
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Friday morning "we are hopeful" McCain would be able to attend.
His rival, Democrat Barack Obama, was preparing to fly out of Washington late Friday morning. Obama said he and McCain should be able to handle the 90-minute forum and the financial crisis at the same time.
"Sen. McCain has no need to be fearful about a debate," Obama told reporters Thursday night. "He's a person of strong opinions and he's been expressing them on the campaign trail."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a McCain supporter, said the Republican made a "huge mistake" by even discussing canceling the debate.
"You can't just say, 'World, stop for a moment. I'm going to cancel everything,'" Huckabee told reporters Thursday night in Alabama before attending a benefit for the University of Mobile. He said it's more important for voters to hear from the presidential candidates than for them to huddle with fellow senators in Washington.
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