Tonight's Presidential Debate is on After McCain Sits Quietly Through Meeting

The presidential debate tonight is going on after all. John McCain, having called for a timeout from the campaign and a postponement of the debate, has reversed his position and will now attend the debate. After nearly scuttling the bailout deal that had previously been worked out by a bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans on Thursday by, according to CNN, saying nothing for much of the discussion and then mouthing a vague statement that left everyone wondering where he stood, John McCain now feels that the current deal is a good framework and the progress being made gives him confidence that a deal will get done. Some might add especially if John McCain leaves town for a while. In any case, he will now show up at tonight's presidential debate.

Subject of Tonight's Presidential Debate

Tonight's presidential debate was originally slated to be sharply focused on foreign policy issues, a core strength of John McCain. Perhaps that is one reason, after catching so much flak for his recent antics, why he has decided to attend tonight's presidential debate. After all, there is nothing like a chance to focus attention on your strengths to distract from your weaknesses. The presidential debate tonight, however, might present a surprise to John McCain in light of recent statements by the moderator of tonight's presidential debate, Jim Lehrer.

Surprises at Tonight's Presidential Debate

On Thursday, Jim Lehrer was quoted by the New York Times as saying "I am not restrained from asking questions about the financial crisis. Stay tuned!" Citing the compelling events of the last two weeks, Jim Lehrer seemed to indicate that there may well be significant attention given to questions of the economy and the bailout package. One might even expect questions on deregulation attempts and likely causes of the current crisis during tonight's presidential debate.

Will Tonight's Presidential Debate Mention the Causes of Banking Crisis?

I expect one candidate to say that it was caused by the greed of Wall Street. Of course, that's only part of the story. The greed of Wall Street was held in check by oversight legislation, as it had been since 1929, until free market deregulators cried havoc and let slip the dogs of greed by removing the separations between investment houses and depository banks. Acts like the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act co-written by John McCain's economic advisor, for example, removed key oversight provisions and allowed mortgages to be bought and sold sometimes before the ink dried on the contracts. I do hope that Jim Lehrer as moderator of tonight's presidential debate asks about that.

Latest Poll Results Entering Tonight's Presidential Debate

I am also secretly rooting for a geography question about the proximity of Alaska to Russia and its foreign neighbor to the east. Meanwhile, going into tonight's debate, The New York Times reports that the latest Times/ CBS News poll shows a five point lead for Barack Obama over John McCain which has been consistent for a week.

Sources: nytimes.com/2008/09/26/us/politics/26campaign.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

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