You're suspended

In case you haven't been following the 2008 Presidential race, this would be a good time to start.

Now it's getting interesting. Just more than 48 hours before the first debate, scheduled for Friday evening in Oxford, Mississippi, on foreign affairs, John McCain has said he is suspending his campaign, returning to Washington, rolling up his sleeves, and jumping in to help work out a solution to the financial crisis and the bailout legislation being addressed by Congress.

Oh, one more thing, McCain has asked that the debate be postponed, and he has asked both the debate Commission and Barack Obama to join along with him on the call for postponing the debate.

Smart, gutsy move by a leader, or cynical, political ploy by someone losing ground to his opponent?

You can make the call.

At this point, Obama has not publicly responded, though his campaign has said it intends to go ahead with the debate at this time.

Is that the smart move, or should each candidate join together as one to help remedy this challenging financial situation? Can they? What if they start out as one, but diverge at some point?

Remember, the campaigns reached agreement on the debates just this past weekend, AFTER the financial crisis broke, and we learned of plans for the massive government capital infusion. So is this new, is it a ploy, is it meant to bring urgency to the situation, or solely to respond to poll numbers showing McCain losing ground among likely voters, particularly on economic issues.

Lots to discuss. Will be back soon on this one!