I thought this was important enough for the main forum. BUT WTF IS MCCAIN DOING??!?!?!?!?!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/24/campaign.wrap/index.html

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced Wednesday that he is suspending his campaign to return to Washington and focus on the "historic" crisis facing the U.S. economy.

The Arizona senator called on his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, to do the same. He also urged organizers of Friday's presidential debate at the University of Mississippi to postpone the event.

"I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself," McCain told reporters in New York. "It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem."

There was no immediate response from the Obama campaign.

McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, were in New York to meet with world leaders at the United Nations. They had met with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.

"Senator, governor, I'm really honored to be here with you. I know you have a very important campaign to run," Saakashvili said. "Overall, I have to say I greatly appreciate the solidarity we felt from the American people."

Earlier, Palin met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Obama on Wednesday lashed out at the Bush administration and his opponent on the handling of the crisis on Wall Street as well as the $700 billion bailout plan by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

Congress and the White House are trying to negotiate the details of what would be the most sweeping economic intervention by the government since the Great Depression. Bush has asked Congress to act quickly on the bailout proposal following news of failing financial institutions and frozen credit markets.

"The clock is ticking on this crisis. We have to act swiftly, but we also have to get it right," Obama said in Dunedin, Florida. "And that means everyone -- Republicans and Democrats, and the White House and Congress -- must work together to come up with a solution that protects American taxpayers and our economy without rewarding those whose greed helped get us into this problem in the first place."

Obama said it's unacceptable to expect the American people to "hand this administration or any administration a $700 billion check with no conditions and no oversight when a lack of oversight in Washington and on Wall Street is exactly what got us into this mess."

He said struggling homeowners must be taken care of in any economic recovery plan -- and that taxpayers should "not be spending one dime to reward the same Wall Street CEOs whose greed and irresponsibility got us into this mess." Read more on both candidates' recovery plans

He also hit McCain for switching from his stance as an advocate for market deregulation to a strong supporter of regulation since the Wall Street crisis became front-page news.

"He's suddenly a hard-charging populist," Obama said. "And that's all well and good, but I sure wish he was talking the same way over a year ago, when I introduced a bill that would've helped stop the multimillion-dollar bonus packages that CEOs grab on their way out the door."

McCain's bombshell comes as a new CNN "poll of polls" out of Virginia on Wednesday shows McCain with the slimmest of leads in a state that traditionally has been a safe bet for Republicans.

The latest polls could be a warning sign for McCain that he still has work to do to lock down certain states where previous GOP nominees had to spend little time or effort doing so.

Delaying, Grandstanding, trying to stop Obama's momentum...

First reaction was WTF, now I see what you guys are saying. Its a pretty brilliant strategy from the McCain camp. His campaign was doing terrible and this is a genius move to recover from it.

It's called asking for a timeout when the opposing team goes up by 9. It is commonly used in many professional sports and on every playground in America.

a time-out refers to a stoppage in the match for a short amount of time. This allows for the coaches of either team to communicate with the team, e.g. to determine strategy or inspire morale. Time-outs are usually called by coaches or players, although for some sports, TV timeouts are called to allow media to air commercial breaks. Teams usually call timeouts at strategically important points in the match, or to avoid the team being called for a delay of game-type violation.

Obama's camp says they want the debate to continue...which is a great move...Doesn't impede on the politics of Washington because it's being conducted friday night...Tell me politics isn't like sports....

If McCain is a no show at the debates, it would be a HUGE let down.

Without congress approval? I doubt it. Not happening.

Posted by izybx:

It is a brilliant move politically. I really wish that one or both of the candidates actually did give a **** about what is going on, and that going to washington to do the job that both of these guys are collecting a paycheck to do wasnt something that was even in question.

Obama called Sen. McCain personally this morning to put a joint statement that would not politicize the current crisis. Sen. McCain said he would think about it. About an hour ago, McCain declares he is willing to suspend his campaign if Obama does the same. Both candidates have stayed in touch with the situation in Washington. They have their economic advisors in the meetings. Obama opposes the bailout while McCain is for it. What is McCain going to accomplish there? Why not take your reasoning to the American people during the debate. The Republicans do not have the votes to get the bill passed as written. The Democrats countered the bailout with their own bill. The President said he will veto such a bill. What's the point of suspending a Presidental campaign?

I don't think they need McCain or Obama there. They are managing fine without them, and they would only be a distraction, sticking their noses into something they haven't been involved in, and bringing along a media circus atmosphere.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe everyone on Capital Hill is saying "McCain is coming to help us out of this mess! Thank god!"

To me this is McCain playing more games. This debate is only a night. He can go to Washington if he wants but he can easily jump on a plane or chopper to get to the debate.

There isn't anything that anybody can do aside from....well...debate what the right course of action should be. this debate needs to happen. I wish he would stop trying to blow smoke up our asses.

obama with a great counterpunch:

"It's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess," Obama said at a news conference in Clearwater, Fla. "It's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."

thelonius i agree, close but no cigar for the POW, obama's response was much more adequate.