McCain: Town Halls With Obama "Very, Very Unlikely"

During a nearly hour-long Q & A session with reporters aboard his bus Friday, McCain said he still has hope that Obama will take him up on his joint-town hall proposal but now calls the prospect that the appearances will take place "very, very unlikely."

"I still have hope but so far it appears that its very, very unlikely," McCain said aboard his Straight Talk Express bus today as it rolled through eastern Ohio. "But I'll keep asking for it. I think there are some events where we are... supposed to both be speaking to and I would hope that maybe he would join me at those. But, it doesn't seem that-we haven't gotten any more responses from his campaign, so I'm told."

Earlier this month, McCain proposed that he and Obama participate in 10 joint-town hall meetings on weekly basis between June 12 and the party conventions. Obama's camp rejected the deal and offered to participate in two Lincoln-Douglas-style debates and one town hall on July 4th. McCain said the Democrat's counter-offer was not "serious."

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Comments

[TNT2008]

What a joke McCain is........here is a man who feels because of his service to his country he deserves to be called president however refuses to even give the veterans of the Iraq war a college education. Absent from Congress and no vote McCain should thank his lucky stars that Obama doesn't have time for his stupid tainted town meetings; Obama would make him look like an even bigger fool than he makes himself. This guy is a real "bozo"! McCain cannot be "trusted"!

[hwebb54]

Obama is afraid to get in front of a crowd and answer questions without a teleprompter or an adviser briefing him before one of those "8 question news conferences" People are getting wise to this guy and seeing him for what he really is. A phony.

[TNT2008]

We'lll see bucko!

[VOTER]

Wrong!

It is McCain who is afraid of the Lincoln Douglas style debates which Obama included

in his proposal.

Why?

Because without others like Senator Lieberman by his side, McCain doesn't KNOW
basic information about Iraq.

McCAIN IS A LOW INFORMATION VOTER/CANDIDATE!

[JiminNC]

You stacked the first one and we are supposed to trust you on 10 more? BS McDoink. Pack sand!

[iswideopen]

McBush, AKA: McFlip-Flop, we are not interested in any of your Fox News staffed "town halls". Get over it and stop lying to the American people. You have no credibility with voters.

[hwebb54]

Talk about flip flop. The whole reason we wanted Obama to win was because of NAFTA and the Iraq war and now that he has taken Hillary out and doesn't have to please the left, he is backing out of his promises. I bet you anything that we will be in Iraq with either candidate and I think if thats the case, I'd rather have John McCain heading that up instead of the inexperienced Barack Obama

[TNT2008]

What about McCain makes him experienced? And if experience counts so much how do you explain Cheney and Runsfeld? Supposedly they were two of the most experienced men in the country and you see where they took us. Screw experience! That's all the old man has to run on so he, as usual, is toting his false credentials!

[loax]

You have already proven that you can't be trusted by having one of your Town Hall meetings fixedd with your surrogates. I want a DEBATE. Stand up and show us what you have (which is absolutely nothing but warmongering and hatred!

[tel8034]

I'm happy that Obama has chosen to IGNORE McCain, and sent the message that McCain as a candidate is IRRELEVANT................. OBAMA DOES NOT JUMP THROUGH HOOPS.

McCain can't run his own campaign, yet he is trying to call the shots on how Obama's campaign should be run? ................. HOW EGOTISTICAL OF HIM.

Obama has his own strategy (which is working), his own schedule, and is able on his own (without McCain) to convey his positions on issues,

Why would Obama need to go to town hall meeting with McCain? There are 3 presidential debates coming up and that should be more than enough.

Perhaps McCain wants these town meetings with Obama so that he could FINALLY experience an event where there is excitement and enthusiasm .............. Have you noticed that the mood at ALL of McCain's events are somber, with the crowd mostly made up of the over 70 crowd who nod off 5 minutes into his speech? ............... Obama's "crowd" at these events would have definately been larger, younger, and enthusiastic.

[NickNas]

McCain is a TOTAL FRAUD Just like his daddy BUSH! Bush NEVER made a speach in front of anything but a HANDPICKED group who clapped and cheered on Cue like a TV tapeing of a show. McCain has also been coddled and put in front of ONLY friendly groups. He could NEVER take a crowd that wasn't impressed by him or hit him with REAL questions and demanded REAL Answers.

Obama did agree to meet with him but since his camp would not do it on MCCAINS terms that put him in totally one sided hostile territory McLIAR is trying to make it look like he won't meet him AT ALL.

How does it feel to have McCain think YOU are stupid enough to fall for this? I am Glad I know better.

[RatgurlSD]

Does anybody think McCain would take Obama up on an invitation to a town hall meeting where McCain doesn't control the audience???

[ofbbg]

Sure he would. He knows that this is the same B. Hussein who was afraid to be in a debate hosted by Brit Hume on Fox, is apparently scared to death of Bill O'Reilly, and is now afraid to appear in front of the people - face-to-face - in town hall sessions with a 71 year old fellow senator. And we expect him to be successful in direct meetings with the like of Iran's president, Korea's leader, Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin? AYSM??

[mergina]

To hell with your town hall waste of time. Debate the issues McCain, or are you a coward when it comes to being caught in your b.s. in a televised DEBATE?

[MadJeffersonian]

Cry me a river....

[NeoStar9]

McCain did himself no favors when he packed the Town Hall meeting that FoxNews broadcasted with his supporters. Obama isn't stupid. He isn't going to go to a "McCain Town Hall" and be attacked by his planted supporters. There is no real way of knowing how objective the audience will be and since they are McCain's town halls McCain wants Obama to come to you can be sure they'll keep being stacked in his favor.

Anyone and everyone can see it if they stop and think for a minute about why this hasn't happen yet. Not only that but I agree it makes McCain look like he's begging when he keeps bringing up when you combine that with how poll after new poll shows Obama in the lead at the moment.

They'll get their time together in the future. It will be at what we hope is an "objective and non-partisan" debate in front of the entire country. That's what McCain is afraid of I think. To be in front of a non-partisan audience and questioners. He hasn't had to face that yet. He hasn't had to face questioners that were playing "gotcha games" and asking him stupid questions. He's been in front of pro-Republican and pro-McCain audience members and questioners until now. He wants to try and damage Obama there first before he has to get to the official debates but that isn't going to happen.

[ofbbg]

Wah, wah, wah!!! He'll be answering questions, not catching hand grenades! Would you people stop WHINING. If he doesn't like a question, he doesn't have to answer it. And why couldn't his staff arrange to have half the meetings on his terms, giving him the opportunity to "stack the audience" a la Hillary. Let's face it, he's not very good at answering questions that haven't been pre-scripted and approved.

[NeoStar9]

McCain has no interest in doing anything close to that. This is why he wanted Sen. Obama to come to "his" Town Halls. Not plan one for the two of them. After the one that was aired by Fox News it was reported that the McCain campaign invited and gave tickets out to their supporters and other conservative groups. They stacked the audience in their favor and got found out after they originally said it was going to be a mixed group of democrats, republicans, and independents. It was Fox News of all places that reported on this after the event. I think because it made them look like fools due to pushing the even as being a fair meeting that Sen. Obama should have come it. It end up being an example of why he was right not to have come.

Sen. Obama offered alternatives in addition to the Town Halls even a debate where it's just the two of them putting questions to each other with no moderator or planted questions. Sen. Obama was willing to take direct questions from Sen. McCain himself. McCain has pretty much said no. They want McCain's events and the only reason is because they want to fill the audience with his supporters, plant questions, etc.

[Americanium]

Is it November yet??

[Americanium]

Huffington Post has taken to linking to stories from Fox News??

Wow so much for objectivity.

[tel8034]

No, it isn't that.

We do not watch FAUX News PERIOD ! Huffington has become an effective means of letting us know what STUPIDITY is out there without having to watch entire FAUX News shows ourselves.

Five minutes of FAUX News, and I'm puking my guts out.

I prefer to read about what stupidity is out there, than to listen to those nauseating, racist, imbeciles as they spew out lie after lie, and then pat themselves on the back as if they have just found the cure for some rare disease.

[the964kid]

Doesn't grandpa know that him asking Obama for these town halls only made himself look small and weak. There is no pressure on Obama to accept these, since everybody can see why Obama would never give McCain the rock star crowds Obama gets. McCain's typical crowd is between 300-1000 people and his largest crowd this entire campaign season was 4,000 students on Chris Mathews' Hardball college tour in PA. Obama routinely gets 10,000-20,000 people and Obama's largest crowd was a record breaking 75,000! All McCain did was make himself look smaller then Obama, he should never have suggested this.

[JBoy]

Let's not exaggerate. Obama faced 75,000 people in Oregon because they were at a FREE Dave Matthews concert. The bulk of the crowd was drawn by Dave Matthews.

[mari2JJ]

John Mcain may think he looks great by keeping on insisting that Obama agree to 10 town hall meetings. However, as a voter, I would much rather they each independantly conduct their campaigns and I can judge their management abilities from the way they do it, For McCain to whine about no response is ridiculous. Obama agreed to some meetings and described the outline of what they should be. Apparently the ball is back in McCain's court but he is not biting either. He realizes he would look really silly beside Obama in a situation like that. 10 joint meetings would not even help McCain and would be a total waste of time. McCaain is free to send his folks to some Obama events to ask those questions and I think Obama will handle those questions with the same intelligent manner that he has so far ie in the Hispanic meeting just finished. Obama is actually saving John McCain from totally making a fool of himself.

[barackobama4prez]

That's what Gramps gets. All he had to do is talk privately and negotiate with BHO directly. Instead he spent weeks "challenging" the IL Senator to participate in his town hall plans...sounds like HRC when she wanted those debates in NC, OR and SD....and we all see that didn't work. BHO is no punk. Don't try to punk him and get what you want.