by Mark Silva
So much for that right-out-of-the-box town hall faceoff between John McCain and Barack Obama.
The presidential campaigns have rejected an offer from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ABC News to host the first town hall that McCain has proposed because they don't want the coverage limited to one television network.
McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, last week invited Obama to join him at 10 meetings in the coming months, and campaign managers on both sides said they had agreed in spirit to schedule some type of joint appearances.
"But the campaigns rejected a formal offer outlined in a letter from Bloomberg and ABC News on Sunday that envisioned kicking off the town hall series with a 90-minute, prime-time broadcast from New York,'' the Associated Press reports. "The campaigns said the candidates want the meetings open for broadcast on all television networks or on the Internet, rather than be sponsored by a single network or news organization.''
Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor who considered a campaign for president as an independent, has sought to hold onto the spotlight. A spokesman indicated Bloomberg would continue to have a hand in the town hall planning. And ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said the network is open to discussing a wider distribution.
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Comments
10 debates? If the candidates cannot get their points across in 3 debates what good will 10 do? But if McCain wants 10 town hall debates so be it. He will live to regret it though. There will be a difference between his user friendly gathering consisting of 500 Wilbur Brimleys and an audience of not so friendly people who, if they are free to ask pointed questions, will certainly touch one of his many raw nerves. I hope somebody asks him why being a POW is the kind of experience a Commander in Chief has.
Posted by: GW | June 9, 2008 12:20 PM
I wouldn't participate in any sideshows with Senator " Questionable Conduct " McCain. Let him go out among us, voters, and tell his story and present his programs. In the telling of his story, I hope he doesn't forget to tell the whys and wherefores of his involvement with Charles Keating and the " Keating Five ". The nation deserves to know about these lapses in ethical judgement, after all, this person will have his hand on the button !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | June 9, 2008 12:24 PM
I'm not sure I really see how participating in these debates serves Obama. McCain is a scrub who can't draw a crowd. Michelle Obama outdrew McCain&Bush in Arizona. That says a lot.
Posted by: Paul | June 9, 2008 12:41 PM
Great. Perhaps the debates will finally get answers to the big questions that remain unanswered that cut to the core of Obama's credibility, character and judgment: Mr. Obama, if you truly believe in a united America and are "post racial," why for the last 25 years have you aligned yourself and your family with the hateful, anti-America, anti-white, anti-semitic rhetoric of Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Louis Farrakhan and Black Liberation Theology? Mr. Obama, if you are truly the great uniter, why have you donated tens of thousands of dollars, including $26,000 last year alone, to Jeremiah Wright to further his message of hate and diviseness? Mr. Obama, why did it take the media and plummeting poll numbers to jolt you out of what can only be described as a racist stupor to address, however inadequately, your association with racism and hate? Mr. Obama?
Posted by: Jeffrey | June 9, 2008 12:42 PM
Ten???!!! Nooooooo!!! There is no way anyone except those directly associated with the campaigns will sit through more than 2 or 3 debates.
Posted by: Aaron | June 9, 2008 12:42 PM
If Obama wants the cross over vote and the votes from Hillary, he should put into writing that he will not pardon his friend Rezko or anyone else in the "combine" and that he will not fire Patrick Fitzgerald. I do not beleive he would be willing to put it in writing and his word is not good enough, he changes his mind too often.
Posted by: Bessie | June 9, 2008 12:53 PM
You RNC trolls crack me up. How many names do you post under, John D.?
Posted by: Doug Zook | June 9, 2008 12:59 PM
Got any questions for McCain, Jeffy, or are you just another Republicrat shill?
Posted by: Aaron | June 9, 2008 1:24 PM
Obama should tell McCain to get lost with his Townhall proposal.
McCain's got no cash, & he can't draw a crowd. Obama, by contrast, pulls in a ton of cash (mostly, if not all, from small, private donations through his website) & speaks to record crowds all over the country. If Obama gives in to McCain's offer, though he will certainly outshine McCain on many levels, he will be essentially paying for a McCain to campaign, which I think is, you know, not the best idea.
Let McCain dwell in obscurity this summer, let him continue to creep-out potential voters with his nasally-voice & awkward facial expressions, while repeating, "That's not change you can believe in ..." to 40 or so, mostly-white, mostly elderly people who have been carefully screened & vetted by a clueless intern from the RNC.
Posted by: John E | June 9, 2008 1:38 PM
HA HA HA!! You stupid republicans make me laugh...John McCain in a debate...HA!
I can see it now:
"The Straight-Talk Express, sponsored by Metamucil, AARP, and Sunrise Assisted Living. John McCain, proving once again, even the disoriented can lead a country."
They should host it on NBC at 10:30pm on a Saturday, it will be one of the best Saturday Night Live episodes ever!
GO OBAMA! Can't wait for change...can't come quick enough!
Posted by: Chris | June 9, 2008 2:24 PM
Obama is the one who should be very afraid. Unscripted answers will have to be delievered to an audience who is very unsure of him. Hopefully the audience will not be from Trinity Church.
Posted by: Paul | June 9, 2008 2:34 PM
obama is too chicken to do this with mccain. obama is the worst off the cuff public speaker ever. he cannot talk without a teleprompter or a speech writer. did you see his performance or lack there of this past weekend. it was as most commentaters agree, a disaster. all polls and electorial college maps show a republican landslide shaping up. dems got the wrong candidate. in the south confederate flags are selling out. obama has no chance with his southern strategy. wisconsin and michigan as well as ohio and pennsyvania all traditional dem states are leaning republican or are battleground states. can you say democrats snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? can you say president mccain? can you say hillary in 2012?
Posted by: mark | June 9, 2008 2:44 PM
Obama shouldn't even give McCain one. Let the old fossil keep speaking with a green wall behind him to a crowd of ten, or twenty. He'll get his clock leaned in any debate format and maybe we can see that famous temper of his. I also agree with a previous somment about the " Keating Five ". I too fail to see how being a POW has any connection to decision making.
Posted by: =S= | June 9, 2008 5:18 PM
Obama is b b b BAWK BAWK CHICKEN! Too CHICKEN for townhall debates!
Posted by: Lisa Tyler | June 14, 2008 12:42 PM