No kidding. Trying to fix what may be the biggest domestic problem of your generation and then hearing that some guy(s) rinning for President wants to come “help.” I think I’d slam the door and then melt the locks.
Aren’t most of the discussions still in committee anyway? Neither McCain nor Obama are on the appropriate committees or subcommittees, so what could they possibly do until it goes to the full Senate?
… and if Obama wants the debate and McCain does not cancel, then McCain will make reference in his opening and closing remarks that the only reason this debate is going forward is because Obama is a selfish jerk who would rather try to win an election than save America?
I thought they were maybe going to vote over the weekend. If that’s the case, don’t they need to read and discuss the actual details prior to the vote?
I still think they can have the debate. If they’re not ready by now, they’ll never be ready.
Quote from Fox:
My bold. Will this interpretation take hold?
Note: These are not quotes or paraphrases – they’re the reporter’s words in a news (not editorial) piece.
Please excuse Johnny from this Friday’s math test. He has to stay home and work on the economy.
"Our country is facing one of the most serious financial crises in its history. It is true that John McCain does have extensive experience in crafting bailout plans after failing to provide adequate oversight to our financial industries. He did it for the failed S&L’s in the 80’s, and became a part of the infamous Keating 5 in the process.
Now he wants to run to Washington to assist in the clean up of the mess he has helped make through his successful efforts to dregulate the financial industry after that spectacular failure decades ago.
I want to make two points.
One - Senator McCain your experience is the problem, not the solution. As a Senator you are obligated to act, but it is my fervant hope that you will have learned from your previous mistakes.
And secondly, the Presidency is a demanding job. Other world leaders and other crises that arise will not allow you to postpone or delay your responsibilities. A President must be prepared to manage for success, not delay for time. Stalling tactics will not do on the world stage.
I look forward to a lively debate this Friday. See you in Mississippi."
I’m learning to love Cafferty. Seriously. He hit the nail on the head a few minutes ago on CNN. Basically summarizing all the "WTF?"s in this thread, adding that McCain hasn’t bothered to take notice of Senate voting since April, and asking the million dollar question: just what the hell does he plan to go “work on”?
Comment by Harry Reid:
EXACTLY!
How do all the other Senators feel about it? Are they all cancelling their plans for Friday? If not, is what they’re doing more important than what McCain and Obama are doing?
Obama says no, he won’t postpone.
Regards,
Shodan
I’m thinking Obama should say something like, “I think we can do both have a debate and work on the economic crisis, as multitasking is part of the job. The American people deserve the debate asap. However, since McCain has effectively backed out of this debate, let’s do the Prez debate in place of of the VP debate and bump the VP debate no more than 3 days.”
I always thought it was a bad idea to hold a debate on a Friday night anyway, so I wouldn’t be too upset if it was postponed to early next week, but I agree with most of the people here that this is just a political ploy from McCain.
You have no idea how much I wish this to backfire on McCain. Its a sleazy move and if it flies back in his face maybe it’ll open the eyes of people that buy all of the BS that comes out of the GOP…you know, because the last 8 years weren’t enough.
But if the debate goes on as scheduled, McCain will shoe up,
hemming and hawing and claiming he was so hard at work on the Bill
that he’s just not adequately prepared to debate.
If so that’s a mistake. CNN just says that the Obama campaign will issue a statement shortly.
-XT
This also illustrates the difference between Obama and McCain.
Obama calls McCain without fanfare to work together on a joint declaration of their support for a plan.
McCain announces his desire to suspend campaigning to the press, then challenges Obama to follow his lead.
One side wants to work together for a solution. One side want to try and score political points.
Senator Jon Kyl is as stupid as McCain and can represent Arizona in the Senate while McCain goes ahead with the debate. The people of Arizona are used to him running off to appear on talk shows rather than be on the Senate floor. I’m sure the final vote won’t be scheduled on Friday night.
I hope the media rips McCain to shreds for this move. Trust me, the media wanted to have the debate as the lead story for the weekend news shows. They know the viewing audience will be much higher for “Who won the debate?” than “Talk about a financial mess that even the above average Joe doesn’t understand.”
Reid’s statement is quite shrewd and deflates McCain’s balloon considerably IMO. Obama should strike a similar note; he should be quite respectful of McCain’s proposal while firmly stating that it would inject politics into the current bailout process. Then he should propose to continue the debate on Friday while changing the topic to the financial crisis. It would be difficult for McCain to refuse.
That’s pretty good, but I think Obama should just say “My fellow Americans, my opponent wants us both to suspend campaigning to fly to Washington to work on the current economic crisis. I have already emailed my proposals to my colleagues at the Senate, but I’ll be glad to take a break for a few days while Grandpa Wayback kicks it old-school.” 
Bonus points to McCain if he appears in the Senate in a flight suit after just having landed in an F-15 that took off from the deck of an aircraft carrier anchored off the mouth of the Potomac. I think that’s the only thing missing in this whole canine-and-equestrian community theatre production McCain’s been throwing.