John McCain Suspends Presidential Campaign

In an incredibly surprising announcement, John McCain has decided to suspend his presidential campaign for the time being, "set politics aside", and head back to Washington, D.C. to work on the financial crisis legislation before Congress. In announcing this major move, he has also challenged his opponent, Barack Obama, to do the same at this time.

In his statement, McCain said that affective tomorrow morning, his campaign will officially be suspended and has requested that Friday night's debate set for Oxford, Mississippi be temporarily postponed.

This puts Barack Obama in a pretty interesting spot, obviously. Does Obama now follow John McCain's lead and also suspend his campaign to go back to Congress to work on getting the financial package passed or does he decide to go on and procede with the politics as usual, continuing the presidential run?

Nobody ever said John McCain wasn't a 'maverick'.

*****

Updates:

Announcement Transcript (Drudge Report)

McCain suspends campaign for 'historic' crisis (CNN)

McCain seeks to delay debate to focus on economy (Yahoo)

McCain seeks debate delay to focus on financial crisis (USA Today)