John McCain Calls "Time Out" in Middle of Race

After agreeing to issue a joint statement with Sen. Barack Obama on the economic crisis, Sen. John McCain issued a unilateral suspension of his campaign and called for a postponement of Friday's debate. He makes a case for returning to Washington, DC to work with party leaders to come up with an Economic Bailout Plan.

McCain is dealing with sagging numbers at the polls, lack of traction with his lack of a message, loss of Palin's luster, and being a member of party of the most unpopular president in recent memory. It is in McCain's best interest to divert attention away from the presidential race to the economic "crisis."

What follows is the text of McCain's statement suspending his campaign:

MCCAIN SUSPENDS CAMPAIGN TO FOCUS ON ECONOMY; WANTS DEBATE DELAY

America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has expressed his priorities and concerns.This morning, I met with a group of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the steps that we should take going forward.I have also spoken with members of Congress to hear their perspective.

It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration' proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me.

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.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.

John McCain Campaign Suspension Chronology:

• The Fed and Treasury Secretary propose a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street to reduce the chance of an economic meltdown in the US
  
  
• Barack Obama calls John McCain on Wednesday morning to suggest that they work together to release a bipartisan joint statement as a sign of leadership on the economic bailout
  
  
• John McCain agrees on the joint statement, but calls Obama later in day to say that he is considering suspending his campaign (and asks Obama to do the same)
  
  
• Barack Obama suggests that they concentrate on releasing the joint statement and they can discuss the campaign later
  
  
• Without notifying the Obama campaign, John McCain releases a statement that he will suspend his campaign and return to Washington, DC to work on the bailout bill... and oh yeah, he doesn't plan to be in Mississippi on Friday for the planned debate if there is no bailout bill by Friday!
  
  
• Obama still wants a bipartisan statement and offers to help congressional leaders, but doesn't see need to suspend campaign
  
  
• Obama wants to keep the debate on Friday evening ("...as President, you will need to handle more than one crisis at a time.")

Obama Speaks About the Economic Crisis:

Obama Wants To Debate:

Read the CNN.com article about John McCain's suspended campaign here.

Read the CNN.com article about the chronology of how McCain suspended his campaign here.

Read the CNN.com article about Obama & McCain accepting an invitation to visit the White House to meet with President George W. Bush here.

Read the CNN.com article about progress being made on bailout bill here.


plez sez:
a few sports analogies:

• Track - Barack Obama is pulling away from john mccain down the stretch, so mccain collapses onto the track grabbing the back of his thigh complaining of a tweaked hamstring.
  
• Boxing - Obama is landing body blow after body blow, so john mccain takes a knee and pleads for a standing 8 count.
  
• Football - the clock is running out on the game, mccain is down by 2 scores, so he calls a "time out."

mccain agrees to release a joint statement with Obama, and then submarines him by suspending his campaign prior to the release of the joint statement.

john mccain cannot be trusted. this move reeks of desperation politics on the part of john mccain. by his own admission, mccain is not economic powerhouse, he brings NOTHING to the table in setting up the bailout plan, all congress needs is his vote! there is no reason for him to return to washington except to move the campaign to the back burner to slow Obama's surge in the polls... PERIOD! and he knows that his lack of credibility will not stand the scrutiny of a debate in two days, so he calls for a "time out."

• mccain cancelled george bush's appearance at the republican national convention citing hurricane gustav (they did accept a videotaped speech from the president)
  
• mccain has kept sarah palin under wraps for a month in hopes that the press doesn't get a chance to scrutinize her (in one month, she has been had TWO interviews with the press)
  
• now...mccain wants to cancel the debate so that he doesn't have to face any scrutiny (he will hide out in washington for the next couple of days)

we keep getting evidence that john mccain doesn't have the chops to stand up to challenges, nor does he have the good judgement necessary to be president.