Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain sparred about domestic policy during their second presidential debate.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The third and final presidential debate is shaping up to be a make-or-break appearance for both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, one of the last chances to get their message out to undecided voters.

The debate, taking place at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, begins at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday and will be aired live on CNN and CNN.com.

The 90-minute face-off will undoubtedly focus on the economic crisis plaguing the country. And unlike at the other two debates, the candidates will sit at a table facing one another.

CBS News' Bob Schieffer, host of "Face the Nation," will moderate the debate and told The Associated Press on Sunday that he will be seeking more on what each will bring to the presidency.

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Polls suggests Obama has won tonight’s debate.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) – A national poll of debate watchers suggests that Barack Obama won the second presidential debate.

Fifty-four percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey conducted after the debate ended said that Obama did the best job in the debate, with 30 percent saying John McCain performed better.

Watch: Debate analysis

A majority, 54 percent, said Obama seemed to be the stronger leader during the debate, to 43 percent for McCain. By a greater than two to one margin — 65 percent to 28 percent — viewers thought Obama was more likeable during the debate.

"Obama had made some gains on the leadership issue even before the debate," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "McCain's advantage on leadership shrunk from 19 points in September to just five points this weekend. If Obama can use this debate to convince Americans that he is a stronger leader than McCain, he may be difficult to defeat."

Watch: Reading the candidates' faces

A majority of debate watchers polled thought Obama was more intelligent, by a 57 percent to 25 percent margin over McCain. Twice as many debate watchers also thought Obama more clearly expressed than McCain, with 60 percent giving the nod to the Democratic nominee and 30 percent to his GOP opponent.

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Sen. McCain's motorcade takes him to a resort in scenic Sedona, Arizona Saturday where he will spend the weekend preparing for the next debate with Sen. Obama. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

SEDONA, Ariz. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain is spending Saturday at a resort hotel in Sedona, Ariz., preparing for his second debate with Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

The Arizona senator plans to stay for the weekend at his family retreat outside Sedona. He took a motorcade to town and is devoting most of the day to preparing responses to possible questions at the debate and polishing his message.

Obama and McCain are scheduled to meet Tuesday at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., for the second of three debates.

The televised debate moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw will feature issues raised by audience members and submitted by Internet participants in a town-hall format.

Related: Debate camp

The wife of a U.S. soldier serving in Iraq will join Michelle Obama at Friday night's debate.

(CNN) - Sen. John McCain has not yet confirmed whether he will participate in Friday night's presidential debate, but Barack Obama's campaign is moving forward with its plans for the event.

The campaign announced Thursday evening that Michelle Obama will be joined at the debate by Shannon Kendall, whose husband is currently serving his second tour in Iraq, according to a press release issued by the campaign Thursday evening. Kendall, a mother, met Michelle Obama during a recent roundtable with military families in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Friday's debate will focus on foreign policy, a topic agreed to by both presidential campaigns before the nation's financial system and broader economic issues took center stage two weeks ago.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour discusses Friday's debate.

(CNN) — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told reporters Thursday preparations for Friday's debate are going forward as planned.

“I expect there to be a debate tomorrow night and I look forward to it," he said.

John McCain has suggested pushing back the debate if an agreement on the economic bailout has not been reached by Friday morning. Barack Obama has said the debate should occur regardless of whether the bill is passed by that time.

(CNN) — McCain supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham tells CNN the McCain campaign is proposing to the Presidential Debate Commission and the Obama camp that if there's no bailout deal by Friday, the first presidential debate should take the place of the VP debate, currently scheduled for next Thursday, October 2 in St. Louis.

In this scenario, the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin would be rescheduled for a date yet to be determined, and take place in Oxford, Mississippi, currently slated to be the site of the first presidential faceoff this Friday.

Graham says the McCain camp is well aware of the position of the Obama campaign and the debate commission that the debate should go on as planned — but both he and another senior McCain adviser insist the Republican nominee will not go to the debate Friday if there's no deal on the bailout.

Hours after John McCain called for the first presidential debate to be re-scheduled if a bailout package is not finalized by Friday morning, the Commission on Presidential Debates said it was moving forward with its original plan:

“The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is moving forward with its plan for the first presidential debate at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss. this Friday, Sept. 26," the group said in a statement. "The plans for this forum have been underway for more than a year and a half. The CPD’s mission is to provide a forum in which the American public has an opportunity to hear the leading candidates for the president of the United States debate the critical issues facing the nation. We believe the public will be well served by having all of the debates go forward as scheduled.”

(CNN) — The University of Mississippi, site of this year's first presidential debate, released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the school still expects the event to take place as scheduled Friday evening.

"The University of Mississippi is going forward with the preparation for the debate. We are ready to host the debate, and we expect the debate to occur as planned," read the statement. "At present, the University has received no notification of any change in the timing or venue of the debate. We have been notified by the Commission on Presidential Debates that we are proceeding as scheduled. We will keep you posted as information becomes available."

(CNN) – The McCain and Obama campaigns said Thursday that they have nailed down the details for this fall’s three 90-minute presidential debates.

As announced two weeks ago, Jim Lehrer of PBS’s The NewsHour will moderate the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain September 26 at the University of Mississippi. The faceoff will focus on foreign policy and national security issues.

Thursday’s announcement laid out the debate format: each candidate will get two minutes to respond to a question, followed by an open discussion for another five minutes.

The second debate, moderated by NBC’s Tom Brokaw, will be held October 7 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. The format will be town-hall style; all questions will come from members of the audience or queries sent in over the Internet.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) — The top Democratic and Republican presidential contenders will be invited to appear in nationally televised debates in California less than one week before "Super Tuesday," CNN, The Los Angeles Times, and Politico announced Friday.

The California debates, which will be broadcast on CNN, will take place in a delegate rich state that both Republican and Democratic White House hopefuls are mining for votes and campaign cash.

It will be the final time the candidates appear together on the same stage before February 5 when 23 states hold presidential nominating contests.

Republicans will appear at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley on January 30. Former first lady Nancy Reagan has personally informed candidates that they will be invited if they are frontrunners.

The California Democratic Party has sanctioned the Democratic debate, which will take place January 31 in Los Angeles. CNN, the Los Angeles Times, and Politico are organizing these historic events.

The three media organizations said candidates will be invited if they place in one of the top four spots in an early voting state, and receive at least 5 percent in either a California survey conducted by the organizers or any one of 10 nationally identified media sponsored polls in January.

Organizers will determine Democratic eligibility based upon the Democratic National Committee's early calendar schedule that includes Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. For Republicans, the list of possible contests includes: Iowa, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina, and Florida.

In addition to a CNN/Los Angeles Times/Politico survey of California voters, the media organizations said other polls they will use to determine eligibility include: CNN, Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg, The New York Times, CBS, USA Today/Gallup, NBC/Wall Street Journal, FOX/Opinion Dynamics, Washington Post/ABC, TIME, or Newsweek.

Edwards announced his 2008 presidential bid from the 9th Ward of New Orleans in late 2006.

NEW YORK (CNN) – Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards strongly criticized the Commission on Presidential Debates Tuesday for deciding not to hold one of the four sanctioned contests between the presidential and vice presidential nominees in New Orleans.

“As a nation, all of us have a responsibility to do everything we can to help rebuild this great city, and holding national events in this city, like a presidential debate, will help New Orleans move forward,” Edwards said in a statement. “I have made rebuilding this city a central part of my presidential campaign because I believe we cannot stand on the sidelines as President Bush continues to fail the people of New Orleans.”

Four universities in New Orleans applied to hold a joint debate, but they were not picked by the CDP. Four universities were chosen from16 applicants to host the contests. The CDP could not be reached for comment on why it didn’t choose New Orleans, but the committee announced its selections on Monday.

The presidential debates will take place next September and October at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The vice presidential nominees will face off at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

–CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

Jeanne Moos takes a look at the top debate zingers so far in this elections season.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — With over 20 presidential debates so far in this election season, the candidates have gotten their fair share of zingers and one-liners in. CNN's Jeanne Moos takes a look at the 10 most memorable ones.

Among those on the list:

- Mike Huckabee: "We've had a Congress that spends money like John Edwards at a beauty shop." (May 15)

- Joe Biden: "Rudy Giuliani — there's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb, and 9/11." (October 30)

- Mitt Romney: "This is a lot like ‘Law and Order.' It has a huge cast. The series seems to go on forever, and Fred Thompson shows up at the end." (October 9)

- Mike Gravel: "Some of these people frighten me." (April 26)

- Joe Biden: "Dennis [Kucinich], the thing I like most about you is your wife." (July 23)

- John McCain (on Clinton's support of a Woodstock museum): "I wasn't there. I am sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. I was tied up at the time." (October 21)

Watch Jeanne Moos' report for the complete list and add your own suggestions in the comment section below!

Or better yet, catch the Democrats go at it in Las Vegas – again this weekend: Sat. & Sun., 6 & 10 p.m. ET.  It was the most watched debate of the primary season.