Breaking News: via Huffpost:
Updates below.
The other shoe drops.
CNN is told the McCain camp is proposing the VP debate be postponed or rescheduled. U of Miss says Friday’s debate IS On. McCain says No Bailout deal, No debate on Friday..Developing.
The original McCain ploy.
McCain Ask To Postpone Friday Debate Due To Economic Crisis
NEW YORK — Republican John McCain says he’s directing his staff to work with Barack Obama’s campaign and the debate commission to delay Friday’s debate because of the economic crisis.
In a statement, McCain says he will stop campaigning after addressing former President Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative session on Thursday and return to Washington to focus on the nation’s financial problems.
McCain also said he wants President Bush to convene a leadership meeting in Washington. Both he and Obama would attend the session.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
NEW YORK (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate John McCain met Wednesday with a panel of business executives to seek their opinions on the Bush administration’s proposed $700 million bailout of U.S. financial markets.
McCain said he wanted to discuss “how we can make sure that the American people regain confidence on Main Street so that they can regain their confidence in Wall Street and in Washington.”
McCain renewed his insistence that the bailout deal have greater transparency, oversight and CEO accountability to make it acceptable to voters.
“Most Americans feel very strongly this isn’t their fault. It’s Wall Street and Washington and the cozy insider relationships that have caused a great part of the problems,” he said.
Soon, in another two weeks, McCain will request the election be postponed canceled.
[UPDATE:]
ABC NEWS McCain: Scrap Friday Debate for Bailout; Obama Camp: ‘The Debate is On’
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. [.]
[UPDATE 2]
A presidential campaign that has already seen its share of twists took another one today: Republican candidate John McCain said he was suspending his campaign to deal with the nation’s economic crisis. McCain also said he would not attend Friday night’s debate with Democratic rival Barack Obama unless an economic bailout deal is reached by then. developing story
but we learn via Andrew Sullivan the other shoe drops McCain camp to propose postponing VP debate
From CNN Correspondent Dana Bash
Biden and Palin are set to debate October 2.
(CNN) — McCain supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham tells CNN the McCain campaign is proposing to the Presidential Debate Commission and the Obama camp that if there’s no bailout deal by Friday, the first presidential debate should take the place of the VP debate, currently scheduled for next Thursday, October 2 in St. Louis.
In this scenario, the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin would be rescheduled for a date yet to be determined, and take place in Oxford, Mississippi, currently slated to be the site of the first presidential faceoff this Friday.
[.]
McCain is on the spot –ABC via Thinkprogress –
Imho, this is throwing more coercion on Congress, ratcheting up the temperature – It’s a crisis.
Next we’ll see a video of OBL taking credit for the financial meltdown.
Prelude to NO Elections.
.
Throwing the towel in de ring? and McCain’s Keating nightmare coming home to haunt.
Sorry John, don’t change the rules, there are no timeouts due to exhaustion or lapse in knowledge.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."looks like McCain wants to take credit for done deal:
TPM – has running updates on the McCain Time Out
McCain can see what is going on. He was sinking like a rock. This is, again, like Palin, an attempt to change the on-going narrative.
It’s a pile of shit, in my opinion. After all, McCain, by his own admission, knows NOTHING about economics. So what is he going to do on the Senate floor? Nothing, of course.
I wonder if McCain can still find his office keys? He hasn’t been there in months.
As you noted dataguy this is Chicken-Shit Alert
and the first debate is on foreign policy, his supposedly his strong suit.
via TPM, this came after Obama asked McCain to join him in a joint set of bailout principles.
to tell which way the wind is blowing.
McCain’s campaign is in serious serious trouble. He is a huge liar. Every criticism that he makes on Obama is much worse on his own campaign. His “maverick” Palin pick now looks incredibly stupid.
Nope, he’s trying to change the narrative.
A reader at the Yglesias post writes on the McCain Calls Time out:
Has McCain’s campaign thought through the CONSEQUENCES?
It’s doubtful. Last evening McCain camp claimed polls showing big Obama lead is bogus.
See my Update in the post:MSNBC and ABC
Obama Camp says: The Debate Is ON
Obama holding News Presser giving his chronology and position on the debate and bailout.
I see this as McCain issuing a challenge to Obama. He is essentially asking Obama to join him in Washington ton n”fix” our economy with the help of Bush (the C.E.O. president [he couldn’t get into law school so he went to b school).
Oh, and he has 48 hours to agree or the Republicans walk en masse and no bill gets passed and it’s all the Democrats fault. WaMu will go bankrupt, the markets will crashing, dogs will be sleeping with cats, etc., etc.
So what’s going to happen? Is Obama going to be standing on a stage in wherever (“making pretty speeches”) or is he going to be rolling up his sleeves and get to work “fixin” the economy with the two village idiots.