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McCain, Obama Seek Joint Town Halls; Campaigns Can’t Agree on LogisticsFriday, June 13th, 2008

John McCain once again renewed his call for joint appearances with Barack Obama today, by reiterating his desire to hold joint town hall meetings together, including one next Thursday in Minneapolis as a way to “offer the best format for presenting both candidates’ visions for our country’s future in a substantive way.”

The Obama campaign, also amenable to the idea of sharing the stage, said in a statement, “Senator Obama believes that the American people deserve an open and accessible debate as they choose between real change and four more years of failed Bush policies, and he welcomed McCain’s invitation to offer voters ‘the rare opportunity of witnessing candidates for the highest office in the land discuss civilly and extensively the great issues at stake in the election.’”

So it would seem both sides agree that joint town halls seem to be a good idea. Let the debate begin!

Not so fast. While the two camps agree on the idea in theory, as a practical matter they’ve locked horns.

The two sides  just cannot agree on the number of joint appearances and when to hold them. While John McCain is offering ten such meetings, the Obama camp has seeking to meet five times between now and Election Day, “the three traditional debates plus a joint town hall on the economy in July and an in-depth debate on foreign policy in August,” the Obama camp spelled out.

“That package of five engagements would have been the most of any Presidential campaign in the modern era—offering a broad range of formats—and representing a historic commitment to openness and transparency,” they suggested.

In response, McCain’s campaign manager drafted a letter to Obama’s campaign manager and shared with the press. “At this moment, we fear that our negotiations over joint town hall meetings are turning into a debate about process. That is exactly what we have always hoped to avoid, and why we proposed a town hall format that would render many of these process issues moot,” the letter read.

Not to be outdone, the Obama camp chided McCain for rejecting their proposal. “It’s disappointing that Senator McCain and his campaign decided to decline this proposal. Apparently they would rather contrive a political issue than foster a genuine discussion about the future of our country,” said campaign manager David Plouffe in a statement.

When McCain’s camp first floated the idea last month, Obama said he thought it was a good idea. Last week at a media availability in St. Louis, however, Obama admitted that it just wasn’t realistic to do all ten “given all the campaigning that I have to do since we just finished our primary election,” he explained.

McCain expressed disappointment in the Obama campaign’s proposal - which he said was one joint town hall to take place on the 4th of July. “Of all times, obviously that would be the least viewed,” McCain told reporters. A McCain spokesman went further and observed, “Barack Obama has more conditions for having a town hall with John McCain than he does for meetings with Mahmoud Amadinejad.”

When both candidates were invited to hold a joint town hall by outsiders Nancy Reagan, Lynda Johnson Robb, and Luci Baines Johnson, McCain was quick to accept. Obama’s campaign plans to stick to the five forums they proposed.

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