Debate Fate Uncertain Amid Economic Crisis

Sept. 25, 2008— -- Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain will go to the White House for an economic summit this afternoon, but it's not clear whether McCain will join Obama in Oxford, Miss., on Friday for the first presidential debate.

McCain says he will be a Mississippi no-show if Congress and the White House are still haggling over terms of the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

The McCain campaign insists that he's not playing chicken, but rather that he is trying to put politics aside and deal with the fiscal crisis in a bipartisan manner.

The Republican presidential candidate announced that he would suspend his campaign Wednesday in favor of traveling to Washington to help nail down a deal. He suggested that Friday's debate be postponed until the crisis is resolved, but Obama and the Commission on Presidential Debates have both rebuffed McCain's suggestion and were acting as if Friday's showdown is still on.

McCain has sprung campaign surprises before, so it's not clear whether Obama would end up in Mississippi by himself.

Raising the specter of skipping the debate is the latest in a series of unpredictable moves by McCain, following the selection of virtual unknown Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate and delaying the GOP convention because of Hurricane Gustav's threat to New Orleans.

Obama made clear during remarks Friday in Clearwater, Fla., that he was ready to rumble. "The American people deserve to hear directly from myself and Senator McCain about how we intend to lead our country. The times are too serious to put our campaign on hold," Obama said.

It wasn't clear whether McCain's latest move would help fashion an economic agreement. Members of Congress and the White House began meeting in the morning to hammer out a deal. McCain and Obama will meet with Bush at the White House at 4 p.m., possibly to applaud a done deal.

But McCain's approval has been considered essential for any agreement. Without it, key Republicans weren't going to buck their own presidential candidate, and Democrats weren't going to give McCain the opportunity to attack Obama over the bailout.

Bill Clinton "Presumes" McCain's "Good Faith"

Some of the harshest criticism came from David Letterman just hours after McCain phoned to say that as part of his campaign suspension, McCain was canceling his appearance on the comedian's show Wednesday night.

"This is not the John McCain I know," Letterman fumed on air. "Don't suspend your campaign. You let your campaign go on shouldered by your vice presidential nominee. That's what you do. You don't quit. You know, this just doesn't smell right ... Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil."

But even Democrats were divided on whether McCain was putting country first or was being supremely political.

Former President Bill Clinton told "Good Morning America" today, "I presume he did that in good faith" and dismissed any suggestion that McCain was trying to duck Obama in a debate.

"We know he didn't do it because he was afraid because McCain had wanted more debates," Clinton told "GMA."

The former president said he "assumed they will have the debate," but said both candidates should "otherwise go back to Washington and participate."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., suggested it was a blatant ploy by a candidate who was dropping in the polls. An ABC/Washington Post survey earlier this week indicated Obama had a 52-43 edge over McCain, a big swing from a poll earlier in the month that gave McCain a slight lead.

"It appears to me John McCain is trying to divert attention from his failing campaign. Coming back here is not going to add to the process," Reid said.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is leading negotiations with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on a deal, said McCain's high-profile return to Washington was making it harder to nail down a deal.

"All of a sudden, now that we're on the verge of making a deal, John McCain drops himself in to make a deal," Frank said Wednesday night after Bush's speech. "I really worry about this politicization of it."

Stephanopoulos Expects Deal Framework

"Frankly, we're going to have to interrupt a negotiating session between the Democrats and Republicans on a bill, where I think we're getting pretty close, and troop down to the White House for their photo-op, and then come back and get on to it," Frank said.

"We're trying to rescue the economy, not the McCain campaign," he added.

George Stephanopoulos, ABC News' chief Washington correspondent, told "GMA" that sources told him that the talks appeared to be on track for a deal today, possibly in time to salvage Friday's debate.

"I believe that what you're going to see is a framework of a deal be put in place today. If the framework is put place, there will be a debate tomorrow," Stephanopoulos said.

But Stephanoupolos warned that if a deal falls apart, there will be a "massive drop in the markets," along with a "big blowback" for McCain.