No doubt Obama's disciples will frame their candidate's decision to go back on his word given in May to debate McCain when he said at the time  "if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that’s something that I am going to welcome,” as a principled refusal.As it turns out, the messiah doesn't "welcome" any kind of a debate outside the three that are scheduled for this fall:Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of joint appearances before the political conventions, agreeing only to the standard three debates in the fall. In May, when a McCain adviser proposed a series of pre-convention appearances at town hall meetings, Obama said, "I think that's a great idea." In summer stumping on the campaign trail, McCain has often noted that Obama had not followed through and joined him in any events.On Saturday, in a letter to the...(Read Full Post)