Yeah, this is obviously a ploy to try to convince voters that:
1 - McCain puts America first despite choosing the most unqualified running mate imaginable just because she might be able to help him win
2 - McCain works across party lines as evidenced by his disingenuous reaching out to Obama to join him in this charade
3 - McCain has a handle on all this economy business even though he's done nothing to help avert our current crisis in his years of work in the government
And
Obama's camp has responded very simply by saying that
"we can do both" in regards to helping solve the crisis and conducting debates, which I think is a perfect response. And the link also includes an interesting element to the timeline of events here:
An Obama campaign official told ABC News the Democratic presidential candidate called McCain this morning to suggest a joint statement of principles.
McCain called back this afternoon and suggested returning to Washington.
Sounds like McCain trying his hand at a bit of one-upsmanship to me.
And finally, it appears that the
University of Mississippi has said the debate is still on.