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Relatives of people killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 say the decision by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to appear together at ground zero on the seventh anniversary of the attacks is a welcome gesture of respect.
"I think it's a wonderful thing," Sally Regenhard, whose son, Christian, was killed at the trade center, said Monday. "I assume that they're coming down here to pay respects to the people who lost their lives and to really affirm the fact that this is sacred ground for America."
Obama and McCain, the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, said Saturday they would appear together at ground zero on Thursday "to honor the memory of each and every American who died." The campaigns already had agreed to halt television advertising critical of each other on Sept. 11.
The welcome mat for McCain and Obama contrasts with the chilly reception some family members gave former New York mayor and then-presidential contender Rudy Giuliani one year ago. As Giuliani descended to the trade center site during the observance, one man yelled, "Scum! Scum!"
Giuliani, who made his leadership after the terror attacks the cornerstone of his failed bid for the GOP nomination, spoke in 2007, as at previous ceremonies. Then-Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the 2007 observance in her capacity as a senator from New York but did not speak.
In 2004, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry did not attend the anniversary observance at the trade center site. Bush visited on the eve of the fifth anniversary in 2006 but did not take part in the Sept. 11 ceremony.
The McCain and Obama campaigns have not released details of the joint appearance, such as the timing of the visit or whether the candidates will speak.
