WASHINGTON - On the eve of what some are calling the most important event of the '08 campaign, Republican presidential candidate John McCain engaged in brinkmanship yesterday over his planned TV debate with Barack Obama.
McCain appeared to hint last night that he would be at the debate, saying it was "very possible" enough progress would be made on an bailout agreement for him to fly to Mississippi today. "I'm very hopeful, very hopeful that we can," he said in network TV interviews.
Obama and McCain met at the White House yesterday afternoon with President Bush and congressional leaders to discuss a bailout deal. McCain has cited a lack of progress in the negotiations as the reason for his decision to scrap his campaign schedule and return to Washington.
Obama said that he and McCain needed to be careful not to complicate talks that have been under way for a week between the administration and Congress.
"When you start injecting presidential politics into delicate negotiations, you can actually create more problems, rather than less," Obama said on CNN.
Aides from both camps were moving ahead with preparations at the University of Mississippi, where officials expressed confidence that the debate would take place on time this evening at 9 o'clock.
Some leading strategists in both parties have said the first debate could be the most decisive moment in the campaign, no matter when it happens.
Karl Rove, who guided George W. Bush's rise to the White House, has said "it may be the fall's most critical event."
But many other strategists, including some deeply involved in the presidential campaign, say the cumulative effect will be more important than any single encounter.
"It's not until you get through all three of them that you see the ultimate impact," said Bill Carrick, a Democratic campaign veteran.
John McCain's chief pollster, Bill McInturff, said much the same thing this week. The Republican strategist described the period of the presidential and vice presidential debates - from today until Oct. 15 - as "a two-and-a-half-week black hole" in the flow of the campaign.
"Something's going to happen," the McCain adviser told reporters. Including next week's vice presidential face-off, "we'll have four debates. We'll wait three or four days after those last debates are over, and we'll know where we're at."
