WI: McCain does not attend the first presidential debate

Goobo

Gone Fishin'
On September 24th, 2008, McCain announced that he would not attend the debate (September 26) because of the financial crisis, but Obama called him out. What if he had not attended anyway, and the first debate just turned into an interview of Obama with McCain's post empty?
 
How plausible would it be for Obama to try and humiliate McCain by planning to show up anyway and trying to pressure the CPD into allowing Nader and Barr to participate?
 

Goobo

Gone Fishin'
How plausible would it be for Obama to try and humiliate McCain by planning to show up anyway and trying to pressure the CPD into allowing Nader and Barr to participate?
No idea. I was too young at the time to know enough. Would it be worse for McCain if Obama was alone or with third-party candidates with him?
 
No idea. I was too young at the time to know enough. Would it be worse for McCain if Obama was alone or with third-party candidates with him?
Both would be bad for John McCain. If Barack Obama is alone, it would make Obama appear as the more presidential nominee. If Chuck Baldwin and/or Bob Barr are there, they might peel off more dissatisfied conservative votes than OTL. Inviting Ralph Nader and/or Cynthia McKinney might also make Obama look better as well, because it might make skeptics of the two-party system focus on the Republican absence more.

Because a Republican was in the White House during a financial crisis/economic collapse and two unpopular wars, the Republican nominee to succeed the incumbent would have a difficult time separating themselves from the incumbent; especially because McCain was weak when it came to economics and wanted to prolong the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.
 
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