CineCalidad. The first presidential debate between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama took place on Friday, September 26, 2008, at University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. The debate was moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS. Although the debate was originally planned to focus on foreign policy and national security, Lehrer did devote the first half of the debate due to the ongoing 2008 financial crisis, a portion of the debate focused on economic issues.