WASHINGTON — The Republican governor of Mississippi said this afternoon that he expects tomorrow night’s presidential debate to go on as planned in his state, despite a call from his party’s nominee that the event be delayed because of the financial crisis.

“I expect there to be a debate tomorrow night. I look forward to it,” Governor Barbour told reporters in a televised briefing from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, the host site of the debate.

Mr. Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said he had not spoken to Senator McCain, and he declined to weigh in on the political maneuvering between Mr. McCain and Senator Obama over the debate.

Mr. McCain yesterday called for the debate to be postponed so that the candidates and Congress could focus on passing a proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial markets.

Mr. Obama reiterated this morning that he believed the debate should go forward as scheduled. “The American people deserve to hear directly from myself and Senator McCain about how we intend to lead our country,” the Democratic nominee said in a speech delivered via satellite to the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. “The times are too serious to put our campaign on hold, or to ignore the full range of issues that the next president will face.”