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McCain, Obama ready for White House debate
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-27 11:31

The Arizona senator did not suspend other campaign activities, however, and remained in New York until he gave a speech there on Thursday.

Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York September 25, 2008. [Agencies]

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His decision to participate was a relief to organizers at the National Commission on Debates and the hosts at the University of Mississippi, which spent about $5 million to accommodate the event, and the 3,000 journalists who descended on Oxford to cover it.

The first debate was expected to be watched by far more than the 40 million Americans who saw the convention acceptance speeches of McCain and Obama, and could be a crucial factor for undecided voters in the November 4 election.

Public opinion polls have shown Obama making gains over the past week on the question of who could best lead the country on economic issues, and most polls have the Illinois senator holding a slight and growing lead over McCain.

Both camps have worked to raise expectations for their opponents in the high-stakes confrontation.

Obama aides noted that national security and foreign policy were a strength for McCain, a 26-year veteran of Congress and a former prisoner of war in Vietnam. Opinion polls show voters favor McCain on security issues.

"Given his unsteady performance this week, he desperately needs to win this debate in a big way in order to change the topic and get back to his home turf," the Obama campaign said in a memo to reporters.

The McCain campaign responded with a sharp message of its own about Obama.

"Barack Obama has been a steady campaigner, and a steady legislator, but he has been steadily wrong, and as a leader he has no record at all," said Michael Goldfarb, a spokesman for McCain.

The second presidential debate is scheduled for October 7 and a third on October 15. The two vice presidential candidates, Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, will debate next Thursday.

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