By Julianna Goldman. Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama and John McCain will put their presidential ambitions on hold today to make an unprecedented joint appearance at a commemoration marking the seventh anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.With no speeches and little fanfare, the two candidates will walk together down a ramp into the pit where the World Trade Center towers once loomed over lower Manhattan and lay a wreath at Ground Zero for the Sept. 11 attacks.
In the seven years since the terrorist strike that killed almost 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, Sept. 11 has been a tool and a trap for U.S. politicians. Yet the day itself has remained sacred.
``Both parties have used it for their own political benefits, but it is risky,'' said Trent Duffy, a former aide to President George W. Bush and a partner at the Washington communications firm HDMK. The candidates ``realize that the best statesmanship, and hence the best political move, is to not play politics on 9/11.''
Keeping up the nonpartisan spirit of the commemoration, McCain and Obama later will make back-to-back appearances at a televised forum on civic engagement sponsored by Columbia University. The subject is one of the few on which the candidates generally agree.
Commemorations
Bush today observed a moment of silence at the White House and then went to the Pentagon to dedicate a memorial to the victims there. McCain, before heading to New York, attended a service in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Air Lines Flight 93 crashed after passengers tried to overpower the terrorists steering the plane toward Washington.
``I have had the great honor and privilege to witness great courage and sacrifice for America's sake, but none greater than the sacrifice of those good people who grasped the gravity of the moment, understood the threat and decided to fight back at the cost of their lives,'' McCain said in his remarks.
This is only the second presidential campaign since 9/11 and the first year that the Democratic and Republican candidates will appear at Ground Zero on the anniversary.
City officials urged the candidates not speak at Ground Zero to avoid even the appearance of politics.
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Barak Obama email:
"Today, we honor the memory of the lives that were lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and grieve with the families and friends who lost someone they loved in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pa. We will never forget those who died. We will always remember the extraordinary efforts of our firefighters, police and emergency responders, and those who sacrificed their own lives on Flight 93 to protect their fellow Americans. And we give thanks for the Americans defending us every day in our communities at home, and in our military abroad."
"On 9/11, Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that spirit of service and that sense of common purpose. Let us remember that the terrorists responsible for 9/11 are still at large, and must be brought to justice. Let us resolve to defeat terrorist networks, defend the American homeland, stand up for the enduring American values that we cherish, and seek a new birth of freedom at home and around the world."
