McCain Asks Obama for Participation in 10 Debates

Republican presidential candidate John McCain appears ready to go toe-to-toe against his opponent, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, in the coming weeks heading into the Democratic party convention in August. McCain is challenging Obama to a series of ten town hall debates, one to be held each week, leading up to the Democratic party convention, according to CNN.

In a speech given in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, McCain proposed a tightly structured format for the debates, which would prevent generic questions from reporters as well as potential media spin coverage. CNN is reporting that McCain said in his speech, "What a welcome change it would be were presidential candidates in our time to treat each other and the people they seek to lead with respect and courtesy as they discussed the great issues of the day."



McCain mentioned the 1964 election agreement between John F. Kennedy and Barry Goldwater where the two candidates agreed to participate in similar debates, before Kennedy was tragically assassinated. Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, responded by welcoming the idea, though he offered a slight change in the format in terms of hosting a larger crowd for the debates and making them lengthier.