The three presidential candidates found some common ground on the losing side of a vote in the U.S. Senate yesterday.

Republican Senator John McCain, and Democratic Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were in Washington to vote on budget measures, including a bill banning congressional earmarks for a year.

All three supported the measure, but it failed by a wide margin.

At one point, cameras caught Obama and Clinton deep in conversation.

The Democratic rivals have agreed to debate each other in Philadelphia before Pennsylvania's primary on April 22.

Meanwhile, McCain said Obama's vote against earmarks runs contrary to his record of pursuing pork barrel projects

"I hope that Senator Obama will say that that earmark money should go back to the Treasury and in fact maybe back to the taxpayers, rather than on needless earmark pork-barrel projects, which he has sponsored, which we all know are incredible wastes of the taxpayers' dollars," said McCain.

Obama defended his use of pork barrel money as an Illinois State Senator, saying he stopped when he felt the system was getting out of hand.

He accused McCain – who once opposed President George W. Bush's tax cuts – of changing his tune because he wants the GOP nomination.

"He made a decision to reverse himself on that,” said Obama. “That was how I guess you got your ticket punched to be the nominee, but he was right then and he's wrong now."

In response, McCain said he now supports the tax cuts because the economy is struggling.

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