"It's going to be a town hall. And nobody's going to televise it."
September 26, 2008 8:17 am ET by Eric Boehlert
That's what NBC's Chuck Todd said this morning, when asked what would happen in Oxford, Mississippi, if John McCain doesn't show up for the scheduled debate tonight.
And that does seem to be the Question Of The Day for the media: If McCain refuses to participate, will the networks televise a solo forum featuring Barack Obama?
Unless there has been a news bulletin or press release in the past few minutes, where the McCain campaign has confirmed that he either will or will not be in Oxford Mississippi tonight... unless that has happened, this is truly extraordinary and irresponsible of John McCain, that he either can not or will not make this important decision (one way or the other) now, on the morning of the debate...
And I don't need to hear about what's going on in D.C., because that's just a reason to decide not to be in Oxford tonight, and no reason for not deciding and not announcing whether he will be there or not.
Chit or get off the pot... NOW!
Is this guy for real, that he can't make this decision now, this morning?
He's actually still sitting on this fence, less than twelve hours before the debate begins?
Irresponsible.
Something occurs to me: he'll have to announce that he's not going to be there. Why? Because if he has waited this long to confirm whether or not he'll be in Oxford, and has left this many people hanging in limbo, right up until the morning of the debate, then if he were to show in Oxford tonight, then this would be the "pre-game chatter" of that debate, and might even spill into the debate as a question:
"Mr. McCain, perhaps you would take this opportunity to explain to the many people here on the Ole Miss campus, and to the many millions of Americans watching on television, why you left us hanging so long, until this morning, to decide whether or not you'd be here? Isn't decisiveness and resolve and the ability to take action quickly, a qualification to the Presidency? What was so hard about deciding one way or the other whether to be here tonight, so hard that you hadn't decided even twelve hours before the debate began?"
I think a townhall would be great. Govenor Palin and Senator (scratcht that) Presidential candidate Obama could face off. Palin could easily subsitute for McCann because it is only the Senators who are needed in Washington