McCain Agrees to Debate, Financial Mess Continues

By Anastacia Mott Austin

The debate is back on.

After saying earlier this week that he wanted to postpone this week’s debate with Barack Obama to focus on the financial crisis facing America, John McCain has said he would debate after all.

Meanwhile, Congress tried to recover from a surprise setback to the government bailout deal, which was supposed to be all but solved Thursday, only to hit a major snag when talks deteriorated at the last minute.

They are now said to be close to agreement again, but folks might want to wait until something has been signed. In ink.

The two political candidates did show up in Washington to lend their voices to the financial crisis talks, despite the grousing of Congress members on both sides of the aisle who complained that the "Presidential photo-op" only distracted from the progress that had been made.

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters on Friday morning, "The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful. All [McCain] has done is stand in front of the cameras. We still do not know where he stands on the issue."

Obama seemed to agree that his appearance at the discussion table might be disruptive, arguing that the best thing he could do was appear before the nation for the debates so voters can hear what he has to say. "My strong sense is that the best thing that I could do, rather than to inject presidential politics into some delicate negotiations, is to go down to Mississippi," said the candidate, referring to the debate’s location.

But other Congress members disagreed, and felt that the candidates’ presence had been helpful. "Both presidential candidates coming back was actually helpful," said Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. "It underscored the significance of moving forward on a bipartisan basis and doing it quickly. So I think Senator McCain's role has been entirely constructive."

As of press time, no new deal has been reached about the fate of the nation’s economic situation, but the urgency of the need to pass a proposal is being felt sharply, as another financial giant collapsed Thursday. Washington Mutual folded and was bought by JP Morgan at a stunning loss, and marks the biggest single bank failure in the history of the United States.

The two candidates continued debate preparations Friday morning, with McCain issuing a statement saying he felt that "significant progress" was being made to solve the financial crisis.