The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Why McCain and Obama SHOULD Have a "Re-Purposed" Debate Friday; What We Know

    By azpaull on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 7:07pm |
    It has been suggested that it is more important for the candidates to be in Washington on Friday than to debate.  Better to "do" something than to "talk" about it.

    I strongly disagree, and think that the Friday debate should be "re-purposed" to focus on this suddenly-urgent economic crisis.  (Moderator Lehrer has apparently already planned to do that.)

    WHAT WE KNOW:

    We KNOW that they (McCain and Obama) won't be playing a major role until a plan is more fleshed out.

    We KNOW that they can be - and have been - in touch with the relevant players while out in the field.

    We KNOW that they are now the titular/future leaders of their parties.

    We KNOW that the American public should have as loud a voice as possible in this process.

    So, I think that McCain and Obama having a debate/discussion WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE is probably the single most important contribution they could make (over the next few days) to LEADING us down the best path toward addressing the economy.