Big Shots Tone Down Politics For 9/11 Anniversary
Don't expect to see political sparks Tuesday, as President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney have both decided that politics will take the back seat in honor of the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The Democratic president and the Republican White House hopeful have no plans to make any appearance at political events on the day. Moreover, both Obama and Romney will be taking their negative campaign ads off the air Tuesday -- possibly the only day they will do so before the Nov. 6 general election.
Four years ago, Obama and rival John McCain jointly appeared at the World Trade Center site. That won't happen this time around.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday that Obama has plans to remember the approximately 3,000 killed in 2001 and the thousands of U.S. troops who died in the overseas wars that followed the attacks.
A moment of silence is scheduled at the While House. Obama will also be making a trip to the Pentagon, which was one of the targets of the terrorists beloging to al Qaeda, whose leader Osama bin Laden was killed in May of 2011 in Pakistan in a U.S. special forces assault launched by Obama.
Romney released a statement ahead of an address in Reno, Nevada, saying that the nation will never forget those who died.
"America shall remain ever vigilant against those who would do us harm," Romney said in the statement. "On this most somber day, those who would attack us should know that we are united, one nation under God, in our determination to stop them and to stand tall for peace and freedom at home and across the world."
Vice President Joe Biden will attend a memorial service at Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the hijacked planes went down.
Republican VP nominee Ryan will take some downtime in his home state of Wisconsin.
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