Top Candidates Will Gather For the First Time

Presidential candidates from the two major parties will gather together for the first time today in a Washington forum hosted by the International Association of Fire Fighters. The three top Democratic candidates — Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and a former senator, John Edwards — will all speak, and so will three Republicans — Senator McCain, Governor Gilmore, and Rep. Duncan Hunter. Mayor Giuliani, who now leads in GOP polls, backed out of the event this week over criticism by the union of Mr. Giuliani's decision in November 2001 to reduce the number of firefighters who could search for remains at ground zero.