From The Road
September 24, 2008 5:45 PM

UPDATED: McCain Suspends Campaign

By
John Bentley
Topics
John McCain
(CBS)

From CBS News' John Bentley:


(NEW YORK) – John McCain is suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to work on the financial crisis. He has asked Barack Obama to join him, and for Friday's debate to be suspended until legislation is agreed upon, but a senior Obama adviser says they are "inclined" to go forward with the debate.

"I am calling on the President to convene a leadership meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Sen. Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem," McCain said. "We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved."

But Obama said he was surprised that McCain had called a press conference and said he was suspending his campaign and asking the debate be postponed. "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. "What I'm planning to do right now is debate on Friday, and that's what I'm preparing to do."

The Commission on Presidential Debates released a statement saying they are also "moving forward with its plan for the first presidential debate" because preparations have been underway for a year and a half. "We believe the public will be well served by having all of the debates go forward as scheduled," the release stated.

If an agreement is hammered out before Friday morning, McCain would participate in the debate, according to senior adviser Mark Salter.

McCain has also suspended all political advertising and canceled all campaign events, Salter said. He added that McCain's colleagues on Capital Hill have told him that passing Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson's plan was going to be "next to impossible."

Yesterday, McCain expressed concern on the proposed bailout legislation, and offered five provisions of his own that he'd like added to the bill. But he stopped short of saying he would not vote for the bailout, arguing that passing the legislation quickly was of the utmost importance.




Add a Comment See all 43 Comments
by cliffyworld September 26, 2008 1:41 PM EDT
Please read the related article titled "Liberals Forgot Obama Stiffed SNL Only Two Weeks Ago! Bring On The Ginko Biloba!" at http://www.cliffyworld.com/blogs
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by cliffyworld September 26, 2008 1:39 PM EDT
Please read the related article titled "Liberals Forgot Obama Stiffed SNL Only Two Weeks Ago! Bring On The Ginko Biloba!" at http://www.cliffyworld.com/blogs
Reply to this comment
by lpr35 September 25, 2008 8:12 PM EDT
If McCain has suspended his campaign why is he still campaiging? After his announcement he gave an interview with Katie Couric. He spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative. His staff is still doing press releases and interviews. Sarah Palin gave a mini press conference. He is still running political ads. What gives? Just another lie and political stunt to divert attention from his incompetence and dementia.
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by stevemehere September 25, 2008 4:27 AM EDT
Letterman got it right on his show tonight...you have to watch...great stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjkCrfylq-E
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by hungry4goodg September 25, 2008 4:02 AM EDT
What this says is that McCain has no ability to multi-task. McCain shouldn''t throw in the towel, and if he does....Sen. Obama wins by default.
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by everym-2009 September 25, 2008 3:41 AM EDT
John Mccain needs to kill his campaign! He has a unique situation, his policies and lobbyist friends are responsible for this mess in the first place! He had an opportunity for over 20 years, to fight for regulation, oversight and less lobbyist influence in Washinton, but he chose to go with his republican party 90% of the time, which is a major reason for this debacle! This is just another political stunt by John Mccain to grab a spotlight! He and his party was for the Iraq War! Which has cost Americans taxpayers1 trillion dollars! He wants credit for a surge that is incomplete, but no credit for costing taxpayers 1 trillion dollars or for supporting going after Sadamm Hussein instead using the full might of our military, to go after Bin Laden!
His hindsight like the surge and stopping his campaign after the fact to fix his judgment errors in policy illuminates his inadequacies and ignorance! We need a proactive president who forsees major problems and have the wisdom to safeguard America''s interest! I am tired of this presidents manipulation of the country and congress! He waits until we are in dire circumstances, then whips a crisis management scenario on the people of America.
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by katharine9 September 25, 2008 3:29 AM EDT
You don%u2019t think McCain is playing politics with this decision? I have a bridge to sell you in Alaska.

McCain is turning into the biggest poser of them all. First flying to Georgia with %u2018bottles of water for dehydrated babies%u2019 during the hurricane, before even finding out what was needed, now flying to Washinton without a clue of what he will be doing there. Of course both candidates should be intimately involved in the decisions being made in Washington right now, but canceling the debate is a political move as his poll ratings drop. We get you McCain, do you think we%u2019re stupid?
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by femaledem September 25, 2008 2:21 AM EDT
SUSPEND IT..HE SHOULD JUST WITHDRAW AND BOTH HE & SHE HIGHTAIL IT HOME(OOOOPS HE HAS TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE 7 HOMES) ME I''VE BEEN FORCLOSED UPON..WHAT ABOUT THE $84,1 MILLION OF TAXPAYERS $$ BY SUSPENDING HIS CAMPAIGN..GIVE THE $$ BACK TOWARD THE BAILOUT!!! OR ARE "you" GOING TO BUY ANOTHER HOME # 8 OF A CAR # 14!! WAKE UP VOTERS..HERE COMES THE SMOKE AND MIRRORS!!!!
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by roc2341 September 25, 2008 2:04 AM EDT
McCAIN MEETS WITH ROMNEY/CEO''S, BUT REFUSES TO MEET/SHARE HIS IDEAS IN A DEBATE WITH OBAMA. HE GIVES HIS WORD TO JOIN IN A JOINT REPLY FROM BOTH CAMPS AND TEN MINUTES LATER IS HAVING A PRESS CONFERENCE SAYING SOMETHING ELSE. IS THIS THE KIND OF CHARACTER-ISTICS WE WANT IN A PRESIDENT? JOHN McCAIN IS/WILL GO DOWN AS THE WORST, MOST INCOMPOTENT, UNTRUST WORTHY,AND COWARDLY POLITICIAN IN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNING HISTORY!!!!! GUARANTEED!AFTER THIS SPINELESS ACT HE SHOULD SEEK REFUGE IN SARAH''S BACKYARD IN ALASKA.
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by dnsallday September 25, 2008 1:56 AM EDT
So why can''t his number 2 take over the campaign while he is in Washington D.C.
He told us she was 100% qualified to be VP. She should be able to step in and handle the campaign events while he is in D.C.
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