Reid: No votes Friday night to avoid ‘excuses’

By Lisa Mascaro

Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008 | 4:35 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- It won’t be votes in the Senate that keep Republican presidential candidate John McCain away from Friday night’s debate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today he would not be scheduling any votes to “make sure there’s no excuses to not go forward with the debate.”

“If ever there was a time in the history of our country … American people need to hear this.”

Republican National Committee spokesman Bill Riggs said: “It’s clear that Harry Reid and Barack Obama would rather score cheap political points with Washington parlor games than do the business of the American people and find bipartisan solutions.”