Obama calls out his rival over tactics

The presidential campaigns were in a stalemate Wednesday night as John McCain called for Friday night’s debate to be postponed and Barack Obama refused to join him.

The Republican presidential nominee called for the postponement of the first presidential debate on Wednesday afternoon. McCain also announced that he is suspending his campaign as of Thursday morning and heading back to Washington.

{mospagebreak}McCain noted he reached out to Obama to suggest both men back out of the debate and instead join congressional leaders and President Bush in seeking a bipartisan solution to the Wall Street crisis.

Obama refused to immediately join McCain, saying Wednesday night that “it’s more important” that voters hear from the candidates and that the president should be able to do more than one thing at a time.

Officials at the University of Mississippi said they had heard from the Commission on Presidential Debates and the debate, which is scheduled to be on national security matters, is proceeding as planned.

Obama and McCain struggled to gain the upper hand Wednesday afternoon as the campaigns traded timelines about who approached whom first regarding a reaction to the impasse on the bailout package.

McCain’s campaign suspension announcement and Obama’s reply came just hours before Bush was scheduled to address the nation about the crisis.

Obama said he called McCain at 8:30 Wednesday morning, after receiving advice from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), to suggest the two candidates issue a joint statement outlining their points of agreement for a bailout plan and calling for bipartisan cooperation. McCain returned the call at about 2:30 p.m., agreed to the statement and apparently suggested that they consider postponing the debate.

Obama said he thought McCain’s proposal was “something he was mulling over,” adding that he suggested he and the Arizona Republican focus on the joint statement first.

“When I got back to the hotel he had announced on television what he was going to do,” the Illinois senator said.

McCain’s campaign said the candidate was meeting with economic advisers and holding talks with congressional leaders throughout the day and was unable to return Obama’s call until the afternoon.

Despite McCain’s play, Obama stood steadfast Wednesday afternoon.

“With respect to the debates, 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. “And I think that it is — it is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

The White House was noncommittal on McCain’s call for the president to host a bipartisan meeting that would include the two presidential nominees, only going as far as to “welcome” McCain’s call for bipartisanship in solving the crisis.

McCain said in his statement that he was suspending his campaign because he had come to believe — after speaking with economic advisers and members on the Hill and listening to Obama’s thoughts — “that no consensus has developed to support the administration’s proposal.”

“I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time,” McCain said.

{mospagebreak}McCain also suspended his campaign’s advertising and canceled a scheduled Wednesday night appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”

Obama agreed on the need to act “swiftly,” but he cautioned that finding the “right” solution is also important.

With new polling out Wednesday showing Obama widening his lead over McCain, Democrats blasted the Arizona senator’s call for the presidential campaign to be suspended, with some describing it as little more than a political stunt.

“I think it’s the longest Hail Mary in the history of football or Marys,” said Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who has been the House’s lead negotiator with both the Senate and the administration on the bailout package.

{mosads}Democrats, who admit they are still taking in the implications of both the bill and the failure to act on it, saw McCain’s decision as purely political.

“They’re not mutually exclusive,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman, of the upcoming debate and work on the bailout. “It’s not like canceling the debate will help to resolve this.”

“That’s absurd,” said Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), a senior House Democrat. “Does he think because there’s a financial crisis we should cancel the election?”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declined to comment, while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a statement saying the presidential debate on Friday should go forward. He said it would not be helpful to inject presidential politics into the negotiations House and Senate members and the administration are now undertaking on the bailout plan.

 Republicans, however, applauded McCain’s stance, and said leadership from the two presidential candidates was necessary for Congress to reach a deal.

“It shows leadership in a time of crisis and is a recognition that unless McCain and Obama are participating, a resolution is unlikely,” said Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “I think it’s the smart thing and the right thing.”

Speaking on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saluted McCain for suspending his campaign.

“Sen. McCain has just announced that he is willing to suspend his campaign, set politics aside and sit down with all sides to come to a solution to the looming threats to our economy,” McConnell said. “That’s really an outstanding idea. The threats to Americans and their homes, savings and retirements is really not a partisan problem, and it won’t be fixed with a partisan approach.”

Alexander Bolton, Jared Allen and J. Taylor Rushing contributed to this article.