John McCain is attempting to put country first and improve his numbers on handling the economy by suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to work on the proposed government bailout. From ABC.
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and Rick Klein report: Sen. John McCain on Wednesday said he would “suspend” his presidential campaign to come to Washington to help negotiate a financial bailout bill, a dramatic move designed to seize a powerful issue.
However a senior Obama campaign official said Obama "intends to debate."
"The debate is on," a senior Obama campaign official told ABC News.
McCain said he called on the Commission on Presidential Debates to postpone the debate scheduled for Friday in Mississippi, to ensure quick congressional action. The campaign is also suspending its advertising, pending an agreement with Obama.
“I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me,” McCain planned to say in New York City, according to advance excerpts released by his campaign. “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.”
This is, indeed, a bold move by McCain. If Obama fails to return to Washington and refuses to reschedule the debate, he could face some well-deserved backlash. This is the "Good McCain," the guy that puts issues before elections and tries to do what he thinks is best. Now the question is whether he will actually do what I think is best. That tends to be a crap-shoot with him.
Obama supporter and chief debate negotiator Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., told MSNBC that "we can handle both," when asked about his reaction to McCain's call to postpone the first debate because of the administration's bailout plan.
Obama is willing to return to Washington "if it would be helpful." But reiterated Obama intends to debate on Friday...
DuHaime added, “Quite frankly, I think you could ask Sen. Obama if he’s going to do what he thinks is right. I mean, he has never -- I believe -- never once made a decision that is an unpopular decision or went against the orthodoxy of his party, and was one that was one that was a tough decision to make. . . . Sen. McCain has done that throughout his entire career, his entire life -- not just in politics, but his life.”
Yes, I suppose you can handle both, Obama. As we've seen, Obama tends to "handle" important issues by avoiding Washington like the plague. It will be interesting to see what the official decision is. Clearly, the most helpful thing for America would be Obama continuing to refuse to give his uninformed opinion on the subject.
UPDATE: I think President Bush just did Obama a huge favor by personally asking him to meet with himself and John McCain tomorrow. Obama souldn't say no to this, and now will be able to take partial credit for whatever comes out of it. I suppose I'm OK with it if Bush really believes this is in the best interests of the country, but I really was starting to think Obama not showing up for this was going to be a big detriment to him in the election.
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