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Obama, McCain To Debate Tonight In Mississippi

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By BILLY HOUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 26, 2008

Updated: 09/26/2008 01:11 pm

WASHINGTON - After a prelude of fits and starts over the past 48 hours, John McCain and Barack Obama are set to meet tonight at the University of Mississippi in their first of three 90-minute debates.

The McCain campaign has released a statement saying the Arizona Republican has decided to show up after all because there has been "significant progress" in Congress toward a deal on a rescue plan for the nation's economy.

"The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon," the campaign said.

"The race is so close and this debate is a dramatic enough event without having had to add more drama," said Alan Schroeder, author of "Presidential Debates: 50 Years of High-Risk TV," who predicts viewership could top 70 million, despite the debate's Friday night scheduling.

History provides no hard-and-fast rules to gauge the importance of presidential debates. But the delivery during a debate of a memorable line or expectations not met or gaffes can and have set the tone for the stretch runs of some past campaigns, analysts say.

Even before tonight's face-off, it seems destined to be remembered. McCain's sudden announcement Wednesday that he was suspending his campaigning to rush back to Washington to help craft a fix to the nation's financial crisis threw the debate into an eleventh hour limbo.

He had said he would not participate in the debate unless sufficient progress had been made on a Wall Street bailout plan, and both he and Democrat Obama on Thursday attended a hyped-up emergency meeting with President Bush and congressional leaders.

Obama challenged McCain to go through with the debate, saying people need to hear the presidential candidates volley on issues.

McCain agreed, though lawmakers say no agreement on the Wall Street bailout has been reached.

McCain's campaign says he has spent the morning "talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House."

"He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations," the written statement explains. "Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners."

Allan Louden, a campaign rhetoric and political communications expert at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, N.C., said framing the events of the past two days – which he says have "shaken up this race again" – will now be among the challenges facing both McCain and Obama tonight.

The official focus of the first debate is foreign affairs and national security.

Louden said the economy is what's on the nation's collective mind. The candidate who can rhetorically and authoritatively best explain or define how to shore up the economy and protect taxpayers may come out ahead, Louden said.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@tampatrib.com or (202) 662-7673.

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