Below is two articles from CNN.com’s political ticker.  They are detailing the Plan B for the Mississippi Debate.  I have been watching the news constantly about this; mainly because we have put a lot of money and time in this debate and when McCain does not show tonight; many Mississippians will view this as an insult against the state of Mississippi and the South.  The South is supposed to be important to Republicans, but we are constantly put down and snubbed by everyone in Congress.  I watched WTVA & WCBI news last night and many Mississippians are taking this very seriously.  I believe this will be political suicide for McCain if he does not show.  If he doesn’t show, it will just show how Obama is FOR the American People and how he want to let them know what is going on and how he intends to fix this.  Personally, I like a “town hall” format, so this may be a blessing in disguise for McCain not to show up.

Plan B proposed for Mississippi debate

(CNN) — Whether GOP nominee John McCain intends to participate in the first presidential debate –scheduled for Friday night — is up in the air, but Democratic opponent Barack Obama said it’s still on as far as he’s concerned.

Obama will fly to the University of Mississippi in Oxford — site of the debate — on Friday, according to his campaign.

University Chancellor Robert Khayat said if McCain does not show, the format may include members of the audience to submit questions to the moderator, Jim Lehrer. Lehrer would then pose the questions to Obama. It would take on a kind of town hall format, according to Khayat.

Khayat said he will recommend that to the Debate Commission, which would make the final decision.

The debate was to focus on foreign policy and natural security, but the economic crisis is likely to be a dominant issue as well.

On Thursday, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said he expects both candidates to attend Friday night’s debate, even though McCain has said he’ll only go if Congress reaches a deal on the bailout.

“I expect there to be a debate tomorrow night [Friday] and I look forward to it,” Barbour told reporters at the University of Mississippi.

Barbour said he had not been in direct contact with either of the candidates and he did not have any “inside information.”

Debate planners got a big surprise Wednesday when McCain called for postponing it. The university has invested millions of dollars preparing for it.

McCain said he was suspending his campaign to focus on the $700 billion bailout proposal. His campaign said he would attend the debate if Congress passes legislation by Friday morning.

McCain said Thursday that Washington needs “all hands on deck” to work on the government’s proposed bailout plan.

Obama’s campaign has argued over the past couple of days that both attending the presidential debate and working on the bailout plan can be accomplished and the event should go on.

“I think we can do both of these things at the same time. The next president is going to face multiple crises on the same day,” Robert Gibbs, Obama’s top adviser, said on CNN’s “American Morning.”

“We’ve got a presidential debate scheduled. We’ve got a stage. We’ll have an audience. My guess is we’ll have a moderator and at least one of the presidential candidates,” Gibbs said.

Khayat, appearing with Barbour on Thursday, said university officials have been in contact with both campaigns but only in regard to “what we have to do to be prepared for tomorrow night.”

Richard Howorth, the mayor of Oxford, said debate preparations are under way and organizers are staying positive.

“We think it’s going to happen. We’re not thinking about the alternative right now, so we’re still excited about it and have a really positive attitude,” Howorth said.

Howorth acknowledged, however, that they are in a “wait-and-see mode.”

 

“The plans for this forum have been under way for more than a year and a half. The CPD’s [Commission on Presidential Debates']mission is to provide a forum in which the American public has an opportunity to hear the leading candidates for the president of the United States debate the critical issues facing the nation,” he said.

“We believe the public will be well-served by having all of the debates go forward as scheduled.”

Below is more Mississippi reactions about McCain not showing up for the Ole Miss debate.  There is something majorly wrong with McCain.

Greene: Mississippi reaction

Posted: 06:25 PM ET

From CNN Contributor Bob Greene

ABOARD THE ELECTION EXPRESS

BATESVILLE, Mississippi– John McCain’s request to postpone tomorrow night’s presidential debate at the University of Mississippi seems to be turning into something less than a trumpets-blaring triumph for him down here.

The state of Mississippi was waiting, with great pride, to host the first debate between McCain and Barack Obama– and the people who live here seem understandably unhappy that, after months of planning, this uncertainty has been thrown at them at the last moment.

Last night and this morning we reported on conversations with Batesville residents–one of them an avid McCain-Palin supporter– who are disappointed and even angry that McCain may not show up tomorrow night. And a conversation today with two men here who have their own theories about the possible no-show provided more viewpoints on how this is going over in northern Mississippi.

“McCain saying that he thinks it’s a good idea not to come to the debate– that’s what you call running from a challenge,” said Arcaro Conner, 45, a maintenance worker. “I don’t think he wants to debate Obama– I think he’ll talk at Obama from a distance, but he won’t talk to him to his face in the same room.”

“He doesn’t want to face the music,” said Mike Diltz, 45, also a maintenance worker. “The American people want to hear from these two men. So why would you say that you might not show up?”

McCain’s stated reason is that he believes it is more important to be in Washington, working on a solution to the economic crisis, than to be in Mississippi for a campaign debate.

“Come on,” said Arcaro Conner. “That’s like a football team that says they’re not going to play because it looks like rain. It’s not the rain the football team is worried about– it’s the team they see waiting for them across the field.”

“This whole thing about having to get an economic deal worked out over the weekend,” Mike Diltz said. “That’s like the pitch for used cars– ‘You’ve got to buy this car by the weekend, or it will be gone. I just heard from a customer who liked this car, and he might be coming back, so you’d better buy it right now.’

“What’s the rush? In around 40 days, we’re going to know who the new president will be, so why are they telling us that they have to rush to a decision right now? It took them eight years to get in this mess, and now, right before the debate, McCain is saying he doesn’t want to come because they have to fix it by the end of the weekend?”

Commentators and political analysts have been saying that McCain’s proposal to postpone the debate came as a big surprise.

“No one I talked to was surprised,” Arcaro Conner said. “Everyone I called last night said they knew all along there wasn’t going to be a debate.”

Really? That sounds unlikely– his friends really weren’t surprised?

“Not at all,” Conner said. “He doesn’t want to face Obama.”

Whatever you may think of the reasoning of Arcaro Conner and Mike Diltz, the one thing that seems beyond contradiction today is that people in Mississippi, and at the University of Mississippi, have a right to be frustrated at the prospect of the diminution of their big night during the biggest presidential campaign in recent memory.

“A couple weeks ago, all that John McCain wanted was to get on the stage with Obama,” Conner said. “Remember? ‘Let’s the two of us go around the country and talk from the same stages.‘

“Well. . . here’s his chance. Is he going to show up?”