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NewsSaturday, September 6, 2008 5:34 PM CDT
McCain, Obama plan joint stop at Ground Zero on Sept. 11
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama said Saturday they will put aside partisan politics for a joint appearance at Ground Zero to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. | Clinton backers say Palin's too far a stretch | Subpoenas to be issued in Palin-trooper probe | Video

The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, in a statement, said they will appear together at the World Trade Center site on Thursday "to honor the memory of each and every American who died" in the 2001 attacks.

The campaigns already had agreed to suspend television advertising critical of each other on Sept. 11. The McCain campaign has said it will air no ads that day.

Both campaigns have been running negative television ads and, at the just-concluded political conventions, pulled no punches in exploiting partisan differences.

Obama and McCain said Thursday will be different.

"All of us came together on 9/11 - not as Democrats or Republicans - but as Americans," they said. "We were united as one American family. On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity."

A group backing community service, MyGoodDeed.org, wants Sept. 11 to become a national day of voluntary service and had asked that Obama and McCain perform acts of community service instead of campaigning.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed after hijackers rammed passenger airplanes into the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon. The death total includes 40 passengers and crew members aboard the fourth hijacked plane, United 93. It crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa., as passengers rushed the cockpit, investigators believe.

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Reader comments on this story - 8 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Santo Fan wrote on Sep 15, 2008 9:19 PM:

" You republicants must live under bridges and at the bottom of soggy barrels. You and your America hating party continue to politicize this horrible day in our history. "

old biker wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:13 PM:

" Joint stop? Maybe if they shared a joint we'd have some progress. "

old biker wrote on Sep 6, 2008 11:12 PM:

" Republicans want us to be afraid of our own shadows so maybe we won't notice them getting rich on the backs of the diminishing middle class. How can anyone with a functioning brain believe that McCain or his Mrs. have any kind of clue what it's like to be "regular"? Cindy McCain's gold dress outfit was valued at over $250,000.00 You read that right. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I've been working for the last forty years and that number could buy everything I own with change left over. Obama's no better. We are in a word screwed by a broken two party system that determines who should run by how much funding they can raise. There are MANY, MANY people smarter and more capable than the two we have to choose one from. I'm concerned for the future but I remain unafraid. Now all you "experts" can have at me. Try to imagine what I'm telling you to do to yourself. "

BNHuman wrote on Sep 6, 2008 8:31 PM:

" To: Enlightened. Yes this is the place. Democrats have wanted to ignore 9/11 and the fact that the Islamic Terrorists STILL want to kill us. "

Enlightened wrote on Sep 6, 2008 3:37 PM:

" keep your political comments out of this article response. it has no place. "

The Real MRK wrote on Sep 6, 2008 3:02 PM:

" I'm not so sure we've been "safe" at all under Bush, or that McCain would make us any more safe. Al-Qaeda struck on 9/11 in a way nobody anticipated. Who knows if they'll do the same thing again, and when? I've seen nothing that indicates to me that Mr. McCain is some kind of anti-terrorist mastermind. "

chickenman wrote on Sep 6, 2008 12:51 PM:

" The media is hungry amd must be fed! I know let's attack Palin, PLEASE. "

pseudo-intellectual wrote on Sep 6, 2008 12:29 PM:

" Whatever the respective merits of both candidates on issues other than security, there is NO WAY we will be as safe under Obama as we would be under McCain, or have been under Bush. In fact, look for Obama and the Demos to pay mere lip service to homeland security while funding their socialistic healthcare and education programs. "

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