McCain Advisor Hedged on Balance Budget Pledge

October 23 - In a debate with Obama advisor Austan Goolsbee, Senator McCain's Chief Economic Advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin suggested that McCain would no longer be able to balance the budget by the end of his first term in office. Although Senator McCain stood by this pledge as recently as two weeks ago, Holtz-Eakin explained that:
"The events of the past few months have completely thrown a wrench into [the balanced-budget proposal], there's no way round it. He would still like to balance it. It's going to be harder [and] take longer."