McCain Meets with Lawmakers; Presidential Debate in Limbo

WASHINGTON, DC (RUSHPRNEWS) 09/26/2008–U.S. presidential candidate John McCain has met with fellow Republican lawmakers, trying to broker a deal to rescue the troubled financial sector. McCain had the discussions Friday morning on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Republican presidential nominee has said he will not attend Friday night’s first presidential debate if a bailout plan is not in place.

Talks at the White House with U.S. President George Bush, McCain, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and other leading lawmakers fell apart late Thursday. Afterwards, Obama told CNN television he worries that injecting presidential politics into negotiations will do more harm than good.

Democratic lawmakers accused McCain of hurting the process and using the financial crisis to boost his campaign.

A statement from the McCain campaign accused Obama of turning the critical White House meeting into a political shouting match.

Organizers say the presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi is still scheduled to take place. Obama says he will attend.

McCain announced Wednesday he was putting his campaign on hiatus to take part in the negotiations in Washington on the Bush administration’s financial rescue plan.

McCain and Obama were scheduled to debate foreign policy at tonight’s event at the University of Mississippi.

The university’s chancellor Robert Khayat told CNN television that the school is prepared to host the debate. He suggested that if only one candidate attends, the audience should be allowed to submit questions instead.

Obama said Thursday that with the election just 40 days away, the U.S. economy in crisis and the nation fighting two wars abroad, the American people deserve to hear directly from the two candidates on how they intend to lead the country.