"My assumption was that the joint statement would go out initially," said Obama.

MCCAIN WANTS A "TIME OUT"

Obama Rejects McCain Call for Debate Delay


Obama And Democrats Call McCain's Bluff

Obama: The Debate Is Still On... 'This Is Exactly The Time When The American People Need To Hear From Their Leaders'... Presidents Are Going To Have To Deal With More Than One Thing At A Time

DESPERATE CANDIDATES DO DESPERATE THINGS....

As the political world continues to try to wrap its head around John McCain's decision to "suspend" his campaign, the Obama campaign issued an interesting statement.
At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal. At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama's call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details.
As we talked about earlier, McCain said yesterday he's looking for a variety of things in the bailout package before he makes up his mind, including "greater accountability," a "path for taxpayers to recover the money," "complete transparency," and a mechanism to prevent Wall Street executives from profiting from taxpayer money. Obama had expressed his own ideas on measures that the bailout package should include, 48 hours earlier, and the lists were nearly identical.
So, this morning, Obama called McCain with a straightforward idea: if both candidates supported similar provisions, the two sides could endorse a joint set of principles. McCain, this afternoon, agreed. Obama did this quietly, away from the media spotlight, and without leaking anything to the media. Just one candidate looking for a bipartisan solution with a rival candidate. Everyone was happy.
And almost immediately after an agreement was reached, McCain, in the middle of debate prep, decides it's time for a stunt. How very sad that McCain's desperation has become this transparent.
Details are a little sketchy at this point, but as I understand it, Obama still wants a debate on Friday, as planned, and does not plan to suspend his campaign, but we're supposed to get another statement on these developments from Obama very soon.
Stay tuned.

Ole Miss Official: Debate Cancellation Would Be Financially "Devastating"

September 24, 2008 4:14 PMTahman Bradley-->
ABC News' Tahman Bradley Reports: A senior University of Mississippi official reacted Wednesday to the news that Sen. John McCain R-Ariz., wants to postpone Friday's presidential debate, saying that such a move would be "devastating" for the university which has already invested millions in preparation for the debate.
Andrew Mullins, special assistant to university Chancellor Robert Khayat, told ABC News that the Ole Miss campus has been transformed to accommodate the candidates and the press. Road blocks are in place on campus and in the community and the debate television set for the candidates has already been constructed. He said the university has spent roughly five and half million dollars getting ready for the debate.
Mullins also noted that if the Commission on Presidential Debates asks the campus to hold the debate at a later date, he is not sure the university would be able to accommodate them.
"It's huge. You cannot just say that you're not going to do this thing," Mullins said. "I don't have any idea whether we do the debate" at a later date. "(We) probably wouldn't do it."
For now, Mullins, says the university is proceeding like they're still having the debate until the commission makes a decision. The university was instructed by the commission on Wednesday to move forward as though the debate is still going to happen, Mullins said.
Sen. McCain, who suspended his campaign activity Wednesday, called for the debate to be postponed so that he could focus on the current economic crisis.