WASHINGTON _ Republican presidential nominee John McCain will attend the first presidential debate tonight, even though Congress does not have a bailout deal, according to The Associated Press.

The move, released in a statement from the McCain campaign, reverses an earlier decision by McCain to delay the debate and suspend his campaign until Congress had taken action.

Less than 10 hours before the debate was scheduled to start, the McCain campaign announced that the Arizona senator would travel to the University of Mississippi to face off with Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

The campaign said that afterward McCain would return to Washington to continue working on the financial crisis.

bbennett@sfltimes.com

Pictured above is Sen. John McCain.