At the moment he, and Obama as well, is a Senator first and a Presidential candidate second.  He was elected to be one of the Senators for Arizona and he owes it to the people of Arizona to do whatever he can to solve this financial crisis.  Yes canceling a debate at the last minute is going to be costly but this is a financial crisis the likes of which few have ever witnessed before and it needs to be dealt with.

As a little caveat here I am of the opinion that no active sitting elected official should be permitted to campaign for another elected position except during recesses so as to not interfere with the job they were elected, and are being paid, to do.

I'll admit it sounded kooky at first, but I'll give McCain the benefit of the doubt. This election was supposed to be a cakewalk for Democrats... Hussein was so self assured and confident that he was giving speeches at Mile High Stadium and campaigning in Berlin. Mac has thrown Hussein quite a few screwballs along the way and has turned what was considered an unwinnable election into a dead heat.  Lets just let McCain 'be McCain.'

I hope you guys are right. 

The word "dumbass" is often over used. And yet here we are, McCain brings new meaning to the term.

I hope it is the right decision... I think of it this way, if I was actively pursuing a new job, I would hope that my potential future employer would not think unkindly of me if all heck was breaking loose at my old job and I had to put my personal betterment aside for a time. I would also expect them to look at me with a jaundiced eye if I allowed my previous employment to go down in flames while I was only looking out for myself...

are you kidding, this move is pure genious.

Obama is a good speaker and the cameras love him, instead of slugging it in the debate he puts obama in a huge bind... points out obama's lackluster track record as a senator. And shows the people he "cares" and has his priorities straight. This is one of the best moves I have ever seen a politician makes. It just knocked obama down and the KO count started, it remains to be seen if obama has an ACE up his sleeve to allow him to get up from that punch.

Wow, someone is a bit overconfident.

It looks like Obama has turned down McCain's offer, saying that they are capable of "doing both."  It seems reasonable to me, considering Congress won't be in session at 9PM on Friday night.  Furthermore, I think the bailout is terrible for our national debt, so I would rather see McCain and Obama not get involved too much on Capitol Hill.

This move is not genius, I'm sorry.  While it is noble, again, to say that you would rather lose the election than leave the American people in trouble, it is a stupid move.  How long have these candidates been campaigning away from their jobs in Washington?  The presence of John McCain in Washington isn't going to move anything along faster, sorry to burst your bubble.

I think it depends on where an individual's priorities lie.

Is the first of three scheduled political debates more important?

Or finding a solution as quickly as possible (assuming one exists) to "one of the most serious financial crises in this nation’s history"?

For some, this first debate is "... exactly the time that the American people need to hear from the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsible for dealing with this mess.."

For others, I would imagine dealing with a perceived/predicted financial collapse in the US would be more important.

How about a compromise? Biden and Palin debate while McCain and Obama deal with the financial issue.

* Quoted portions from Barack Obama statements.

the point wasn't weather or not mccain can single handedly solve or even help with the economic crysis... the point was that he is doing a politically saavy thing.

And I predicted that doing both would be obama's response. Considering it is the only sensible counter attack and someone on his team was bound to think about it.

If, by predict, you mean not paying attention while Obama was talking about it himself even before McCain decided not to appear at the debate, then yes, I suppose you did do that...  Listen, I didn't say that he would be the one to have to solve the "crisis" (this isn't a computer game ) by going back.  I was merely pointing out that, in my opinion, it isn't worth it to gamble with his campaign since he isn't going to be able to do that much in any case.

ok, you are thinking it is a dangerous gambling of his entire campaign. I think it is a very shrewed political stunt that can only turn out well for him. time will tell.

El-D

You took the words right out of my keyboard!  Right on.  I agree totally. 

Yes, we're all disappointed because we were looking forward to this debate but afterall his job as a Senator should be first and foremost. I don't think we should let our feelings get in the way of the business of running our country.   We are in a situation that needs attention by the men and women we have put in office.  They need to do the jobs we're paying them to do even if it means rescheduling a debate. 

We dont need another Carter

I don't know that any election will be a cakewalk anymore. The parties have extremely good demographics info so they can target voters locally with specific propaganda campaigns.