Just hours after Senator John McCain made the surprise announcement that he was suspending his presidential campaign and asking for a delay of Friday's first presidential debate to focus on the economic-bailout package being hammered out in Washington, his rival, Democratic Senator Barack Obama, said he would not be following suit.

"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. "It will be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once. I think there's no reason why we can't be constructive in helping to solve this problem and also tell the American people what we believe and where we stand and where we want to take the country. In my mind, actually, it's more important than ever that we present ourselves to the American people and try to describe where we want to take the country and where we want to take the economy."

Calling it a moment of "great uncertainty in America," Obama warned that if Congress doesn't act soon, "People's jobs, people's savings, the economic security of millions of Americans will be put at risk."

Like McCain, Obama called on Democrats and Republicans, and the White House and Congress, to come together to figure out a solution to the worst economic crisis to face the country since the Great Depression. It was in that bipartisan spirit, Obama said, that he reached out to McCain on Wednesday morning (September 24) after determining that "many of the principles that I had set forth were ones that Senator McCain had adopted as well, in terms of how this financial proposal should be structured." Obama credited Republican Senator Tom Coburn with suggesting that the presidential rivals issue a joint statement about the financial crisis to show their unity on the issue. As of 5:40 p.m. ET, that statement had not yet been issued.

Obama verified that McCain called him back at 2:30 p.m. and that he urged McCain to join in issuing the statement "to let this Congress and this administration know where we stand and what we expect from this proposal." Among the four principles Obama has suggested to guide the bailout are: a bipartisan accountability board to monitor where the money goes, treating the American public like investors, and giving "every penny" back once the economy recovers, helping homeowners struggling to stay in their homes and making sure Wall Street executives don't profit from the crisis.

Saying he's been in constant contact with the leadership in Congress, Obama added that he's also been in daily contact with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, but that these difficult days are proof that "there are times for politics, and there are times to rise above politics and do what's right for the country."

The brief address was followed by a question-and-answer session, a pointed attempt by Obama, it seemed, to further distance himself from McCain, who has drawn fire lately for his lack of availability — as well as the virtual media blackout on his vice-presidential running mate Sarah Palin — and his infrequent Q&A's with the press, with whom the Arizona senator had long had a cordial relationship.

After Obama reached out to McCain, he said the Republican agreed to the joint statement and added that the two should have a meeting in Washington with congressional leaders and perhaps President Bush. Stressing that the statement should come out first to show their bipartisan spirit, Obama said he found out that McCain had announced the suspension of his campaign shortly after their 2:30 phone call.

Obama said he would not be following McCain's lead and suspending his campaign or pulling his ads from the air because of his feeling that it's important that the American people see the men who could potentially be dealing with this issue over the next couple of months. "We need to be focused on solving the problem, as I have been over the last several days," he said. "But I think it is also important that we communicate to the American people where we need to go in getting out of this situation."

Obama pledged to make himself available to be "anywhere, anytime" to help with the bailout negotiations but said it might not be helpful to "suddenly infuse" the process with potentially distracting presidential politics during the delicate negotiations.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1595554/20080924/story.jhtml