John McCain announced he was “suspending” his campaign to go back to Washington and deal with the financial crisis impacting Wall Street. Senator McCain also called for Fridays debate, which will be centered on foreign policy, to be postponed. Barack Obama rejected his call for a postponement of the debate. From MSNBC:

“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 told reporters in Clearwater, Fla.

“In my mind, it’s more important than ever that we present ourselves to the American people and describe where we want to take the country and where we want to take the economy,” he said.

McCain’s campaign indicated that without a deal in place on the financial crisis by Friday McCain would skip the debate. The Debate Commission has indicated that the debate will go on, but would not speculate on the result of a McCain absence.

A senior adviser to McCain told NBC News that Obama’s insistence on going ahead had not changed McCain’s position. The aide said McCain would stay in Washington and skip the debate unless a financial agreement was in place by Friday.

Speaking to reporters in New York, McCain said he would suspend his campaign to work on banking legislation, saying President Bush’s proposed $700 billion bailout appeared unlikely to pass.

McCain will try to sell this as dedication to duty above politics, but the reality is that his poll numbers are sinking fast. He sees a steamroller heading towards him, and he needs to get out of the way. With his position eroding quickly McCain needs to shake things up again. Maybe he can send Sarah Palin Friday?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/26873212#26873212