Barack Obama, John McCain Face Off in Final Presidential Debate

McCain Looks to Final Presidential Debate With Obama to Change Race

Republican despair heading into the final presidential debate was evident in the letter that McCain's brother sent to the campaign and the Republican National Committee.

According to The Baltimore Sun, Joe McCain complained that the strategy for promoting his famously blunt brother has been "counterproductive," and he railed at strategists who "so tightly control the message."

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Republicans insist that McCain can still win and point to Ronald Reagan's skewering of incumbent President Jimmy Carter in their lone debate to pull off a come-from-behind victory in 1980.

But McCain may face longer odds running in the shadow of an unpopular Republican president and a historic financial crisis.

"Much is out of John McCain's control. Ninety percent of the country thinks we're going in the wrong direction. President Bush is tremendously unpopular right now. The economy is so sour," Stephanopoulos told "GMA."

"He is up against a wall here, and he would be having a tough time, a very tough time even if he were running a perfect campaign," he said.

Stephanopoulos added, "There's not a whole lot he can do at this point to change the dynamic in one debate."

The final debate is McCain's last, best chance before Election Day to command a national audience and to convince America that he, and not Obama, is the right guy for the Oval Office.

"I think once the debate is held, John McCain's destiny is no longer in his hands," Dowd said.