Even if Obama went to Washington he'd just vote "present".
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I find it interesting that Obama would use the word "crisis" to describe his campaign.

McCain didn't lie. There will be a deal on the bailout. That is why he will be at the debate.

"Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who has led negotiations with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on the package, said that given the progress of the talks, the White House meeting was a distraction.

"We're going to have to interrupt a negotiating session tomorrow between the Democrats and Republicans on a bill where I think we are getting pretty close, and troop down to the White House for their photo op," said Frank, the House Financial Services Committee chairman. "I wish they'd checked with us.""
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_o...

What happended to his "Fundamentally sound" economy?

"McCain will be at the debate."

Then McCain was lying when he said he wouldn't be at the debate unless the bailout plan was finished?

McCain will be at the debate. As Former President Bill Clinton said on Good Morning America this morning, "He (McCain) is not trying to get out of the debate, he wanted more debates when they were scheduling them."

Obama made a good point about the stupidity (my words) of cancelling the debate. Isn't this exactly the time we should be hearing what the candidates views are? The future President will certainly have more than one crisis to deal with at the same time, but McCain's cancellation of the debate makes him look week.

The Congress has been working on the plan for days, and neither McCain nor Obama are on the committee doing the actual work. The meeting with the President is a photo op. Everybody knows nothing gets done at those "meetings" with the President.

McCain called David Letterman this morning and said he had to cancel his appearance (taped this morning) on Late Night to go back to Washington...then proceeded to do an interview with Katie Couric instead, in the same studio! Letterman was on fire, and actually showed a live feed of the interview with Couric during his show. Basically, McCain lied to Letterman, and he called McCain on it during the show. Too funny.

Both McCain and Obama –should—be on the senate floor helping to create a deal that will save our financial markets. That is what we elected them to do. Granted, this could be construed as a political move on McCain’s part and maybe it is. However, regardless of politics the importance of this package needs no convincing. This may well be the most important piece of legislation to come out of the senate in decades. What shouldn’t both McCain and Obama be there? I can’t think of a good reason our elected officials shouldn’t be there regardless of campaigns. If this isn’t straightened out, it won’t matter who wins the election, because either McCain or Obama will have a nightmare to deal with right up until 2012 when Hillary runs again and probably wins.

McCain wants to reschedule the presidential debate during the VP debate scheduled for the next week. Then reschedule the VP debate "at a later time". Palin doesn't have all her talking points memorized yet. I think this is totally a drama inducing ploy by the McCain campaign. You'd think they would have waited to announce the VP debate delay until a different day though to reduce how obvious it is!
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McCain is not an economic expert and he is not on the committees that are dealing with this. What is he really going to accomplish other than drama?

Where was Mc Cain for 26 years on the Commerce Committee? All he did was make sure there was more deregulation. His financial adviser Phil Gramm is responsible for all of this beginning with his Experiment in Deregulation in the end of 1999. Mc Cain was pushing to Privatize health care and Social security. This man is nothing but a drama queen. I am tired of drama queens. If you have been watching c-span you would realize that Congress and the Senate have been working on this day and night. Its the Budget and Banking Committees, Mc Cain doesn't belong to either. Mc Cains going to Washington for Photo OPTS. What a phony. Republicans don't believe in deregulation. They think it is Socialistic. They believe the Country should have free enterprise not controlled by the government. Rep Senator Shellby was the only republican who had a workable idea. Mc Cain has no knowledge base in economics, what is he going to take credit for something he knows nothing about?

Yes, McCain is running scared. Just like Bush does.

He is desperate. He is scared. He is running.

Mccain is just running away. He knew he could not match up.

I believe there is truth to the Chess move analogy; however, McCain will show up for the debate. He'll be there and he will win, not just the debate, but the PR battle in the media as well...BRILLIANT!

Like Palin, yes, this is a dramatic and unexpected move. In chess and other games such moves can be used to force your opponent to rethink strategy and reallocate forces. It is, however, a sign of a campaign that is not doing well that it needs to shake the chessboard.

To me it seems as if McCain is just trying to -look- like he cares. It seems like a premeditated move, and it does not seem like he is doing this because he thinks it's the right thing to do [for the American people].
I try to look at everything objectionably, and I try hard to overcome any critical thinking barriers that I might have.
It's true, almost no matter what Obama does in this situation, he doesn't look as good as McCain. It's like a very well placed move in Chess which actually was not originally planned. I feel it is just that though, a well placed move in order to try and win the election.
Nice guys finish last. McCain, in my honest opinion, is not doing this because he feels in his heart it is the right thing to do. He's doing this because he wants to shine while at the same time he is making Obama look bad. McCain is doing this to help him win the election.
I do have to say though, that I don't think this shows that McCain can't focus on more than one issue at a time. He could just be prioritizing, which is also something that a president should be able to do well.

McCain is Brilliant. Giving a prepared speech is different than debating. Did you bother watching the Republican primary debates or the Saddleback Church Forum with Obama? McCain was very articulate. He did much better than Obama at Saddleback and he didn't have "screened" questons from Pastor Rick Warren. Of course the liberal left said McCain "must have been listening" when Obama was answering the questions first. That was because he kicked Obama's tail in that forum. I have watched most of the debates on both sides and both conventions. There is a reason why the Republican's mascot is a brilliant Elephant and the Democrat's is a stubborn Donkey.

BillyRay, give your a head a shake and watch McCain when giving a speech. He is constantly looking at his prepared speech while glued to his podium. As for his townhall meetings, when questions are allowed to be asked, they are friendly questions as they are screened ahead of time.

Billyray,
McCain goes to townhall meetings because he's virtually ineffective when speaking to large audiences or on television. Bobby Kennedy had the same strategy. It has nothing to do with him being more or less open, it just has to do with him maneuvering around his weaknesses.

They don't have any say on what is going to happen now. Bush has never listened to anyone. They need to campaign and IF there is a vote, then go vote. Bush isn't going to do what Obama wants, so this is just a political stunt by McCain and Bush.

McCain is BRILLIANT! What a great move. He puts his Country First, and Obama on his heals. Obama loses either way with how he responds to this.

As far as McCain being afraid to debate...give your head a shake. Obama is the most scripted campaigner in recent years (teleprompter and all). McCain does townhall meetings, where you can be put on the spot at any time.

What can McCain or Obama actually really do if the debate were postponed? Nothing really gets done in Washington anyways, so does McCain think he's really going to get anything resolved?
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Quoted from MikeF below - "but it also shows that he cannot concentrate on two crises at the same time." - Scary, huh?

Why would he want to delay the debate when it's going to happen anyway? You'd think if he thought he was going to "lose" the debate, he'd want it to occur as far away from election time as possible...not closer.

bubbavoo, the Vice Presidential debate (there will be only one) is scheduled for Oct. 2. Given today's developments, I would take this schedule with a grain of salt.
http://debate.wustl.edu/home.php

Obama and McCain are both Senators. They both should be in Washington during a time of crisis doing what they were elected to do, not buzzing around the country shaking hands.

I think it is a bad move on McCain's part to suspend and return to Washington. He says it is to show that he cares more about the country than the election, but it also shows that he cannot concentrate on two crises at the same time.

This is just a political ploy by the McCain people to make him appear Presidential. What he's really doing is postponing a debate that he knows he can't win.

I think it's a way to get out of the debate.
While on the subject of debates, does anyone know when Biden and Palin will sit down and do the same?

He's doing it to show that he cares more about the US citizens then his presidency. With this action, he is trying to reach the people who are most affected by the current economy. He wants people to see that he cares about them.
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I am not saying I am for or against McCain with this comment.