Well fuck.  This would have been great if Obama got to it first.

I have a better idea. Let's have the debate on the economy.

a shrewd move by mccain. there was nothing else for him to do to stop the bleeding. In one swoop he has changed the story line and provided himself with the opportunity to look like a statesman on the economy. Obama should handle with care.

I think Obama should say no to this idea. Let Congress and the current President iron out this mess. McCain knows he's in deep sh*t!

oh my fracking god.  wtf?

This is another attempt to grab control of the news cycle.  It's related to the Rick Davis revalations, I'm sure.

...it could make McCain look big or it could make him look weak.  I have no clue.

I don't understand what exactly McCain could do in DC that he couldn't do on the trail.  He's not on the banking committees or anything like that.

One thing you can say about McCain's campaign - it's sure not boring.

America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns. This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward. I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective.

It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration's proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

9/11?  Really?  You want to go there, John?

Anyway, McCain hasn't been at his day job in the Senate for months.  He has been railing against Obama for not meeting him in town halls for months.  

If he can't find time for a 90 minute debate on his strongest topic of foreign affairs on a Friday night because of this crisis that the entire rest of Congress is working on, then I'm not convinced that he can handle the multi-tasking and multi-disciplinary job that is the President of the United States.

Obama should say that McCain is more than welcome to stay home, then go to the debate and answer questions on foreign policy and the economy for the 90 minutes.

After 22 years in the Senate, McCain finally wants to focus on the economy? He still has not answered where he stands on the bailout.

It's as if McCain woke up this morning and suddenly realized he's a member of the United States Senate.  How many votes has he made this year, 2?

Wow, McCain found the only thing that could possibly have politicized the crisis even more than it already is.

Because the campaign goes on whether or not it's "suspended".

has said that Obama called McCain this morning so they can release a joint statement.

This is silly.

We're WINNING.

The election is going to happen 11/4 whether John McCain has 6 weeks or 5 weeks of campaign time to close the gap.

If John McCain wants to piss away one of those weeks, fine by me.

We're winning, people... time is on our side.

That's what they did in 1980 when Jimmy Carter refused to debate John Anderson. They let Reagan debate Anderson and left an empty chair to make it clear that Carter was not there.

Obama can use the debate as a lenghty news conference. Every time a question is posed to John McCain, the cameras should zoom in on his empty chair and then the moderator would ask Obama the next question.

The Constitution states that this is an election year. We do not suspend elections simply because the financial markets are in crisis. At any rate, although the economy is bad, this is not the Great Depression. Continuing the electoral process is more important than a quick fix bailout for bankers. McCain's ploy is a trap to make it look like that he is a leader and Obama is not.

 What's he gonna do when he gets us into a war with Iran, Russia, North Korea or Canada?  "Hey guys, lets just take a break for a minute and sing kumbaya, ok?"

Will Palin suspend campaigning? Will the ads and mailers stop? Will he instruct the RNC and state parties to suspend?

They don't really have anything to do, in terms of their day job, until it comes out of the committee.

The US had elections during the Civil War and World War 2.  Obama can come out on top with this issue if he hits back hard.  Elections aren't incidental.  They're the means by which the American people get to decide how to respond to crises.  If McCain can't do both he has no business being president.

This works every which way.  If McCain doesn't show up for the debate Obama can slam him for being obstructionist, the same way he's being with Palin.  If McCain slams Obama for not "caring" about the economy the Dems can say he's politicing the issue, and Congress, at this point, will only approve a stop gap because the GOP is simply incompetent.

Obama, hand McCain his ass.  He just blinked.  Don't try to be the "better man".  A majority of the public has already concluded that the GOP doesn't know what they're doing.  The question they're asking is whether you're tough enough.  Treat him like crap and watch your poll numbers go up even more.

People will see him as McWhiney McQuitter. They all know that 2 hours on Friday night are not going to take away from the real horse trading going on in Washington. People are not that stupid.

Does Obama suspend his debate prep in FL to come back to D.C.?  If nothing else McCain is gaming him by eating into his prep time.

McCain has been doing town halls, and this debate plays to his strength, so losing prep time isn't as big an issue to him.

Bold move for a campaign that is trailing right now.   If Obama doesn't counter with something equally as bold does he risk not play into this recent McCain theme of America first?

These guys are both supposed to be prepared to be President, right?   Have the debate on Friday night, in Washington, DC, on the Senate floor.

As for suspending the campaign, that is ridiculous.  Hopefully we will see a more high-minded tone in the discourse given the gravity of the times, but we do have a current President don't we (sometimes I forget)?  Let President Bush lead on the issues of today and have the candidates focus on their plans for the future.

Best quote ever:

"McCain suspends campaign due to lack of interest"

OK...This has officially become the most fucked up campaign in my lifetime and I have to think the most fucked up in the last 60 years.   This just gets stranger and stranger.

"campaign" is to be as lying and divisive as possible, then of course you should suspend your "campaign" Johnny McLame.    But I think, and I believe that Barack Obama agrees, that this campaign is about us, and the future of our country.  What more important time to have a real conversation about this question than now?

Of course these guys should debate - sorry John, it's time to get out of your foxhole and face your opponent like a man.

Him, Biden, and McCain going to the "summit" and leave Palin out since she is not in the Congressional leadership, further pushing Palin out to the side and showing how irrelevant she is

And, they are prepared to have Obama say no, so they can send out the surrogates, like Lindsey and Joementum to do the "I'm OUTRAGED at how little Obama cares about this crisis..."

Don't buy it. Any meeting, anything EXTRA they can do CAN go on without suspending the campaign.

Can you imagine Faux News if the shoe was on the other foot, and McCain was pulling away, if there was a terrorist attack today in, let's say, Puerto Rico; and Obamb's team wanted to suspend the campaign for the crisis?

They would scream bloody murder.

1) Obama has not agreed to suspend debate in fact they have said Obama can handle both.

Next-

The University of Mississippi is going forward with the preparation for the debate. We are ready to host the debate, and we expect the debate to occur as planned.

At present, the University has received no notification of any change in the timing or venue of the debate.

We have been notified by the Commission on Presidential Debates that we are proceeding as scheduled.

And, what exactly IS McCain going to do?

Hold an economic conference?

Spend his days advising Dodd, Reid, Shelby?

These guys know more about the economy then he does.

Call his bluff. This is crap-ola, something Rove probably called Schmidt and told him to pull.

 A stunt from a failed candidate, which will fail.

To tell us how BRILLIANT of a move this was for McCain, ya know-- kinda like Sarah Palin