Video and transcript of the 1st presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama in Mississippi appears below when available. Meanwhile, enjoy an open thread to discuss the debate between the two presidential candidates. The time of the debate is 9pm EST.

McCain Obama debate
McCain Obama Debate




Who won? Who lost? Is the Obama-McCain debate canceled?

John McCain rose above politics this week to put the country first. His historic call for both campaigns to suspend operations while the two Senators answer the President’s call to help manage the economic crisis is unprecedented. The debate might have been canceled or postponed, but do not bet on it.

Barack Obama did agree to return to Washington DC, although it was not his first choice to concede the idea to John McCain. Images of the President’s meeting show Obama at the end of the table with his shoulders sunken and disengaged, seemingly a young man among competent others. The striking pose is something that Obama’s handlers will want to erase from public memory as the aspiring president did not look presidential in the face of crisis.

The Obama campaign tells us that Obama has been cramming hard to memorize his answers to potential foreign policy questions, the purported topic of the first debate in Mississippi. Obama’s handlers were encouraged that his law school training was enabling him to cram successfully for the test of a lifetime in which 30 second sound-bytes are enough to get by.

The economic crisis has thrown the Obama campaign off axis. They do not now know if the debate will be held to foreign policy, or economic issues for which Obama is unprepared to answer. The apparent strategy is to insist that the debate is curtailed to the agreed upon topic, whether or not the market crashes on Friday.

On the McCain side, the campaign believes that they have suddenly seized the upper hand on the economic issue. Whether or not John McCain’s magnanimous bid to rise above politics is ultimately successful, the campaign believes that the public will view his selfless role positively. At least he is trying, whereas according to campaign wisdom, Obama is studying for a debate while avoiding the central issue.

We can report that John McCain will appear at the debate. The announcement will come on Friday in the late afternoon to keep Obama off his game. McCain will insist that the debate focus on economics rather than foreign policy, which everyone concedes is McCain’s greatest strength. John McCain will put country first, and the campaign believes that is a win-win strategy.


Obama McCain Debate (Video)

This is a placeholder video which will be updated after the presidential debate.