McCain: Skip Ole Miss debate, focus on economy
The Associated Press
Published: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 4:28 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 4:28 p.m.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) _ After spending millions to prepare for Friday night’s presidential debate, officials at the University of Mississippi on Wednesday were trying to absorb news they’d hoped to never hear: The debate might not happen.
The Associated Press Republican John McCain said he wants to delay the international affairs discussion to focus on solving the nation’s financial crisis. McCain said that the Bush administration’s Wall Street bailout plan seemed headed for defeat and a bipartisan solution is urgently needed.
Democrat Barack Obama responded by saying that it was now more important than ever for the two to debate, given that one of them soon “will be responsible for dealing with this mess.”
The University of Mississippi, in the north Mississippi city of Oxford, has spent more than $4.5 million to prepare for the debate. Most of the money is from private donors.
Streets are blocked and campus security is tight. Ole Miss has been holding seminars, voter-registration drives and other events leading into what’s supposed to be McCain and Obama’s first debate since they were nominated at their parties’ national conventions last month.
Barbara Lago, the university’s public relations director, said the campaigns and the Commission on Presidential Debates must decide what happens. The university continued its preparations Wednesday because the debate had not been canceled.
“We’ll just see what happens, what they decide,” Lago told The Associated Press.
Even with the uncertainty, both campaigns continued their advance work. McCain’s wife, Cindy, was scheduled to make an appearance Friday in Oxford, and his camp was still calling news organizations to ask for coverage.
Yep. 4.5 million bucks, and it took them about a year to raise it from private donors.