The security blanket that covered the University of Mississippi — Secret Service agents, roadblocks, bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors — lifted within hours of Jim Lehrer’s final question.
It was all over — the presidential debate that almost wasn’t.
Tens of millions of people watched the presidential debate in Oxford, and up until 10 hours before curtain call, only one person seemed positive McCain would be behind a lectern.
“When you are 70 years old, you have to live on faith,” said Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat. “I believed (McCain) would come. I couldn’t imagine him not coming.”
McCain’s decision not to push forward with a request to cancel or delay the debate amid the economic crisis was a relief to the more than 3,000 journalists who had traveled to Oxford.
Magnolia Tribune
