NEW YORK —
Republican John McCain said Wednesday he is directing his
staff to work with Democrat Barack Obama's campaign and the
presidential debate commission to delay Friday's debate because of the
economic crisis.
In a statement, McCain said he will stop campaigning after
addressing former President Clinton's Global Initiative session on
Thursday and return to Washington to focus on the nation's financial
problems.
McCain said he wants President Bush to convene a
leadership meeting in Washington that would include him and Obama.
"It has become clear that no consensus has developed to
support the administration's proposal," McCain said. "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 if Congress does not pass legislation to
address the crisis, credit will dry up, people will no longer be able
to buy homes, life savings will be at stake and businesses will not
have enough money
"If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be
impacted," McCain said. "We cannot allow this to happen."
McCain said he has spoken to Obama about his plans and
asked the Democratic presidential nominee to join him.
The Obama campaign said Obama had called McCain around
8:30 a.m. Wednesday to propose that they issue a joint statement in
support of a package to help fix the economy as soon as possible.
McCain called back six hours later and agreed to the idea of the
statement, the Obama campaign said. McCain's statement was issued to
the media a few minutes later.
"We must meet as Americans,
not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is
resolved," McCain said. "I am confident that before the
markets open on Monday we can achieve consensus on legislation that
will stabilize our financial markets, protect taxpayers and homeowners,
and earn the confidence of the American people. All we must do to
achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to
doing so."
