McCain heads for key debate

Saturday, September 27, 2008

AFTER two days of high drama, Republican White House hopeful John McCain finally headed yesterday to join Democrat Barack Obama for the first of three key debates in the US elections.

Forty years to the day after the first televised debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon transfixed the nation, the 2008 showdown was set to go ahead yesterday at the University of Mississippi at 8pm (0100 GMT).

McCain had kept everyone guessing about his plans for some 48 hours, after dramatically suspending his campaign last Wednesday to rush back to Washington for talks on the financial meltdown.

But his campaign finally confirmed yesterday that enough progress had been made in the talks in Congress on a US$700-billion Wall Street bailout that the senator would fly to Oxford, Mississippi for the debate.

With Obama ahead in the opinion polls and vowing to go ahead with the Mississippi event with or without his rival, McCain announced that he was "resuming all activities" and heading to the debate.

"The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the senator will travel to the debate this afternoon," his campaign said in a statement.

"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."

McCain spent fewer than 24 hours in Washington discussing the bailout plan with fellow congressmen and administration officials.

The clash will take place at a rare moment of national peril, with the staggering US financial system spawning a global crisis, the stock market reeling and the life savings of millions of Americans in the balance.

Tens of millions of television viewers are expected to tune into the contest, five weeks before the November 4 election day. In 2004, more than 62 million people watched the first debate between President George W Bush and John Kerry — given the historic potential of this year's gripping election race, analysts expect an even bigger audience.

With under 40 days to go before the election, Obama had argued it was more important than ever for the American people to hear from the two men battling to be the next president.

"One of us is going to be in charge of this mess in four months, and the American people I think have a right and obligation to find out where we want to take the country and what we believe," the Illinois senator, 47, said.