First Presidential Debate: It's ON!

Despite John McCain's call to delay tonight's presidential debate to work on the Wall Street financial crisis, the Republican nominee has announced he will give Democrat Barack Obama the press appearance he has so arduously sought.

For a few hours at least, the work in Washington, DC will go on without either of them.

Although this evening's debate, which will be moderated by Jim Lehrer, host of the PBS show, The NewsHour, was scheduled to address foreign policy and national security issues, it is obvious to anyone who has been paying attention to the news lately, that the economy will emerge as the focus of the discussion.

McCain had originally planned to work through the evening in an effort to bridge the bailout impasse that is still clogging the Congressional pipes and preventing any workable solution from reaching the floor of eitehr the House or Senate.

McCain's decision to head to temporarily suspend his campaign and reschedule the debates was met with mixed reactions, which were divided along party lines. McCain's supporters applauded his decision as evidence of true leadership, while Obama's supporters decried it as a political stunt designed to draw attention away from his "failing campaign."

Although visitors to this site have overwhelmingly admonished McCain for his decision, it certainly hasn't hurt the negotiations.

Members of both Houses of Congress, however, seem pleased with the added attention the bailout negotiations have received thanks to McCain's arrival in Washington yesterday. Democrats and Republicans alike have held numerous press conferences, and even Barack Obama left the campaign trail to meet with President Bush -- apparently taking McCain and the president up on their invitations to come to Capitol Hill to help find a solution.

Democrats quickly huddled before press cameras before McCain's arrival yesterday to proclaim they had reached an agreement. The obvious attempt to embarrass McCain by implying that his help was not needed backfired, when a group of angry House Republcans held a press conference of their own announcing that at no time did they have an agreement.

Since his decision, many have asked just what McCain hoped to accomplish by suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to work on the financial crisis. For an answer to that question and others visit my list of Conservative FAQs About the Federal Corporate Bailout Plan of 2008.

At a time when Washington is at its most chaotic, Obama has insisted on holding the presidential debate, putting unrelenting pressure on McCain to meet him or run the risk of being called a "chicken." McCain has never backed down from a fight, and undoubtedly will unload both barrels when the two meet tonight in the Magnolia State.