Information

[Miteenice]

 Though the act of postponing the Debate to take an active stance on the economic bail out is admirable and necessary, I am not thrilled with how it was handled by McCain.  It should have been President Bush calling the shots if it is that important, not McCain putting pressure on Obama.

Please understand, I am a McCain supporter, but I did not find his power trip acceptable. 

[snowangels]

 I would like to hear what McCain and Obama have to say about our economy and would like the debate to happen as scheduled.

[VikingMOM]

 I have to agree with you ... Mit

[deerewife]

 I think it's great that McCain is telling Obama that he has a job first and foremost as a Senator not as a presidential candidate.  Moving the debate a week won't hurt anything - not doing something now about the financial crisis could be horrible.

[karenvonbaron]

 I agree with Jenna.  In my opinion ~ McCain has finally stepped up...and I don't think moving the debate will hurt anything either.  After listening to the president (first mistake!), I really was shook up...I am tired of the talking and would like to see some action.  I think we should put the presidential candidates through a process like American Idol does!!   Show me what you got!!

[-Shannon-]

 I think it's great that McCain is telling Obama that he has a job first and foremost as a Senator not as a presidential candidate.  Moving the debate a week won't hurt anything - not doing something now about the financial crisis could be horrible.

I agree.

[Queen Mum]

 I think that both presidential candidates have a job that they need to do - they are elected Senators for their states.  As elected officials to represent those states, they need to be in place for policy making decisions.

YEs, we do need to hear whtat they would like to see done if they were elected president (keep in mind, they can't say what they WILL do because what they want to do will be affected by other brances of the government, such as Congress/Senate) But their votes as Senators will also show where they stand.

They can talk next week - but tend to the job at hand NOW.

[MLee]

 I agree with McCain (I can't believe I'm saying that) that there are more important issues at hand for BOTH Senators than preparing for a debate and campaigning right now. If the people of this country don't know who they are going to vote for by now then something is terribly wrong.

The vote on this bailout could be close and McCain's experience and leadership, especially, is needed (Again, I cannot believe I am saying this) They should be in the senate, not on the campaign trail. But then, I felt that way about a lot of key votes this past year that BOTH of them missed and Hillary was there voting on.

[anazelia]

 I would like to hear what McCain and Obama have to say about our economy and would like the debate to happen as scheduled.

 I agree with you completely.  The debates should go on as scheduled.   

[naney1952]

 I would like to hear what McCain and Obama have to say about our economy and would like the debate to happen as scheduled.

 I agree with you completely.  The debates should go on as scheduled.   

I totally agree too.....let them go on as scheduled.

[JeanG]

In 5 weeks, we're going to be voting for a new president. We're in a serious crisis - what better time to hear the candidates go through on their scheduled debates??!!  I want to know exactly what each one would do if he was in office right this minute!  Postponing the debates says to me that McCain has no idea of what he'd do and is running scared; if Obama agrees to reschedule the debate, the same goes for him. They have even more information than we have - have can they NOT have the scheduled debate and not look totally stupid??

[SBcrazee]

In 5 weeks, we're going to be voting for a new president. We're in a serious crisis - what better time to hear the candidates go through on their scheduled debates??!!  I want to know exactly what each one would do if he was in office right this minute!  Postponing the debates says to me that McCain has no idea of what he'd do and is running scared; if Obama agrees to reschedule the debate, the same goes for him. They have even more information than we have - have can they NOT have the scheduled debate and not look totally stupid??

I totally agree with you. Who said a Presidents job is simple? There's always going to be several issues to handle at any point of time. McCain is already proving that he can't handle a debate & a financial crisis at the same time.....huh?? And he's not even President!

[suslvgeo]

 I don't think that is what McCain is doing at all. I think those that want to look at him in a bad view, will think that of course. But to me, I think he is trying to do what is best for the people that he is representing right now as a Senator. One could say that Obama is not taking care of the people that elected him, by not wanting to postpone it for a week. That is one thing I HATE about politics, the bashing.

I think if McCain was not willing to do a debate at all, THAT would be wrong, but postponing it, while a very serious vote is taking place is not a bad thing. I hope BOTH of them take care of the issue at hand and then give us a GOOD debate!

[allysonc]

 It just seems to me that obama really doesn't want to do the debates for some reason. I just get that feeling. Every election year there are debates. They MUST do the debates. I really want to see them both at the debate. I have been. WAITING for this. lol

Ally

[deerewife]

 I don't think that is what McCain is doing at all. I think those that want to look at him in a bad view, will think that of course. But to me, I think he is trying to do what is best for the people that he is representing right now as a Senator. One could say that Obama is not taking care of the people that elected him, by not wanting to postpone it for a week. That is one thing I HATE about politics, the bashing.

I think if McCain was not willing to do a debate at all, THAT would be wrong, but postponing it, while a very serious vote is taking place is not a bad thing. I hope BOTH of them take care of the issue at hand and then give us a GOOD debate!

Exactly!  If the house and Senate don't do something NOW there are many institutions that will fail and all h***l will break loose.  Postponing isn't hurting and it's not that McCain can't do both - he can't be in two places at once.  If it's so important to hold the debate this week - then move the location so that they can both be in DC talking and voting at the Senate.  There are some things that can't be done over the phone.

[SBcrazee]

My response is more from frustration than bashing. When the crisis occured, it was Obama that first called McCain & said let's put our differences aside & work on this together. The reason President Bush has called upon these two senators specifically is because they are the Presidential candidates & to me this is the best time for both of them to not only work with the President but also show the voters that the are capable of handling a crisis. The right thing to do was for them to discuss this in private & come up with a joint decision that satisfied both parties. That's not what they did. How can frustration not be expected?

[JenniferP]

 I think I heard that the debate tomorrow was supposed to be on foreign policy - so they probably wouldn't have spoken on the economy anyways.  Besides - who's going to watch a debate on a Friday??????????????????????  Catch me on a weekday, not a weekend.

John McCain isn't running from the debate, in fact, he wanted to schedule more, but Obama refused.

I think McCain's action is admirable, because I become quite annoyed with politicians who forget about their elected job and just focus on their campaigning.  If he was representing me, I'd be even more annoyed.  Do your job first, then focus on your extracurriculars. 

And in reference to doing more than one thing at a time - they're elected to (essentially) a group that does a job - what are they supposed to do, invite everyone to the place of the debate and say, hey let's talk over here instead?  (Field trip! )   They have to go where the group is, there's no getting around that. 

Debate tomorrow - debate next week - whatever, I probably won't watch anyways.....

[MamaK321]

 I watched Letterman last night and was really interested in what he and Keith Oberman had to say. I guess McCain was scheduled to appear on the show but had canceled that too, or should I say postponed? The problem with postponing the debate is that there is X amount of time and X number of debates to do. Chances are that postponing this debate could actually cancel a future debate. They SHOULD have flipped the debate lineup and focused on the economic policies NOW. I understand that these men have prior commitments as senators but honestly, as close as we are to the election, I wouldn't want my senator to back down now, I'd want to see more action and hear what both senators would do during their term to correct the situation. Sadly, things are not going to just jump back with the bail out, it is going to take some time and we need to know what our candidates plan to do.

[FurBaby_Mom]

 I suppose that, more or less, if you're a McCain supporter, then you'll think that what he did was admirable.  If you're an Obama supporter, vice versa.
 I refrain from all political discussions (where's that smiley with the "x" through his mouth?)  I was here for the last presidential election and things got ugly on here!

[Rici76]

I agree with refraining from discussing the presidental elections all together....I can imagine it can get kinda crazy.