Our Oxford's better than your Oxford

Now that the whole debate over the debate is over, let's all sit back and give Ole Miss the chance to gloat over British football envy.

McCain is going to the debate

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain will attend the presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., this evening as Congress continues to work toward a $700 billion financial bailout plan.

"Everything is proceeding as planned," said Scott Warner, spokesman for the Commission on Presidential Debates, which will oversee the debate at the University of Mississippi tonight. "Nothing changes: the format is exactly the same, everything is exactly the same."

Click here for the full story.

Morning Links: Tick-tock, tick-tock

That's the sound of time slowly crawling toward the Ole Miss debate/non-debate, where we could see an actual exchange between John McCain and Barack Obama, or we could see Obama get the greatest free advertising ever. McCain seems closer to attending, even if the bailout plans are still being hammered out. The CPD says they should know by noon; the drop dead time is 5 p.m.

If Obama shows up alone and proceeds with a town hall format, that does two things to the Belmont debate: 1. It presumably increases its relevance given that it would become the first actual presidential debate (assuming both men attend that one), but 2. It somewhat decreases the appeal of the town hall format, because voters now will have seen both candidates, albeit separately, in a town hall setting.

And of course, if everything does go down as originally scheduled, how prepared will the candidates be after this week's hoopla?

Tick-tock, tick-tock ...

(Photo credit: Ron Edmonds/Associated Press)

Just when Ole Miss began to breathe ...

... the politicians became politicians again. What does the latest bailout impasse mean for tomorrow's scheduled debate? Apparently nothing new. We'll see if John McCain shows up in Oxford, or if Barack Obama gets some town-hall practice.

Programming note: Tomorrow's posts may be light as I work on a story for the dead-tree edition. Of course, if McCain appears on Rachel Ray, all bets are off.

Morning Links: Late-night special

Part of John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign included canceling on David Letterman, whose show was scheduled to tape just a few hours after the announcement. Letterman, who earlier this week had Chris Rock calling out Bill Clinton, didn't take the cancellation lightly, especially after finding out McCain was then doing an interview with Katie Couric at the same time as Letterman's taping. Below, you can watch the entire skewering, as well as Letterman's second thrust -- having MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann on in McCain's place:



Now, the most interesting thing Olbermann says is that McCain's move to delay Friday's Ole Miss debate was a ploy to get the vice-presidential debate canceled, and thereby continue Sarah Palin's media protection plan. (Palin also showed up with Couric, and reviews were not kind.)

Being of a particular political mindset, Olbermann doesn't lend himself as the most credible source on McCain's campaign ... until McCain adviser Sen. Lindsey Graham proposed almost the exact scenario Olbermann discussed. Under Graham's proposal, the first presidential debate would be moved to Oct. 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, and the VP debate would be rescheduled and held at Ole Miss. If the Ole Miss folks weren't happy yesterday, they'll be livid if this goes through.

Also:

Bill Clinton makes sure he mentions Barack Obama's name to Jon Stewart.

Ole Miss keeps chugging along, as does Belmont.

Obama: "More important than ever" to hold debate UPDATED

Obama tells McCain: Debate on.

ALSO: Belmont's Fisher "stunned" by McCain proposal.
Ole Miss soldiers on.
Some local debate parties, if that whole debate thing happens.

Belmont president "stunned" by McCain proposal

Belmont President Bob Fisher says he can’t imagine what Ole Miss officials are going through after John McCain announced this afternoon he wanted to delay Friday’s debate to work on the financial crisis.

“I was stunned,” Fisher said. “I really feel badly for the people at Ole Miss. That was my first instinct, because I know how much work they have put into it.”

Fisher said he has not heard from the Commission on Presidential Debates, which oversees both the Ole Miss debate and the Oct. 7 presidential debate at Belmont. Belmont will continue its preparation plans as usual unless the commission says something different, Fisher said.

“It’s amazingly complicated what happens for these debates,” Fisher said. “We knew from the beginning that we weren’t in control of this process, and there’s an additional piece of proof.”

McCain asks for Ole Miss debate delay UPDATED

John McCain is planning to suspend his campaign in order to go back to Washington and work on the financial crisis, and has asked Barack Obama to do the same. He's also asking that the Ole Miss debate on Friday be delayed as a result.

CNN is saying the two campaigns have talked, but there has been no formal word from Obama.

UPDATE: Obama campaign says we thought about that first; looks like Obama wants the debate.

Ole Miss: "We've put massive amounts of money into this"

Officials at Ole Miss are, well, apoplectic over John McCain's call to delay Friday's debate. Andrew Mullins, executive assistant to Chancellor Robert C. Khayat, just told me the school had no advance notice from the campaign, and said he learned about the proposal from CNN.

"The [Commission on Presidential Debates] said keep working like it's going to occur," Mullins said. "We’ve put massive amounts of money into this thing. We've been preparing for six months."

The school is reportedly spending $5 million on the debate, which already had its topic switched from domestic policy to foreign policy. When I asked Mullins if he'd rather the debate stay scheduled for Friday, he responded: "That’s an understatement, Colby. Good Lord."

List of Ole Miss debate watch parties

Here’s a list of Ole Miss debate watch parties I have so far; e-mail me at ccsledge@tennessean.com to get yours included. Remember, the debate starts at 8 p.m. CDT Friday.

Belmont University
Where: Belmont Heights Baptist Church Sanctuary, 2100 Belmont Blvd.
Time: 7 p.m.
Hosts: Belmont debate coach Jason Stahl, political scientist Vaughn May
Accompanying events: Belmont College Republicans and Young Democrats will host a roundtable discussion after the debate.
Contact: debate08@mail.belmont.edu

Lipscomb University
Where: Shamblin Theatre on Lipscomb’s campus, 3901 Granny White Pike
Time: 8 p.m.
Hosts: Tennessean publisher emeritus John Seigenthaler, foreign policy historian Howard Jones
Contact: Janel Shoun, janel.shoun@lipscomb.edu

Middle Tennessee Ole Miss Club
Where: The Closing Bell — Wall Street Pub, 1524 Demonbreun St
Time: 7 p.m.
Host: Middle Tennessee Ole Miss Club
Accompanying events: Trivia before the debate
Contact: Martin Michael, martinmichael@comcast.net

Music Row 4 McCain
Where: Sam’s Sports Bar, 1803 21st Avenue South
Time: 7 p.m.
Host: Music Row 4 McCain, a grassroots organization of songwriters and producers for McCain-Palin
Contact: Bob Schwartz, 615-419-9615

Nashville Democratic Headquarters
Where: Nashville Democratic HQ, 907 Rosa Parks Blvd.
Time: 6 p.m.
Host: Victory 2008 Campaign
Accompanying events: Obama Tennessee Director Jerry Martin speaks at 7 p.m.
Contact: David Shankle, 615-244-1244