Barack Obama spent approximately 143 days in the United States Senate before he began running for President. Now, in the middle of a financial crisis, McCain is suspending his campaign and seeking to postpone their debate this Friday, and he’s calling on Obama to do the same.

Republican John McCain says he’s directing his staff to work with Barack Obama’s campaign and the debate commission to delay Friday’s debate because of the economic crisis.
In a statement, McCain says he will stop campaigning after addressing former President Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative session on Thursday and return to Washington to focus on the nation’s financial problems.

McCain also said he wants President Bush to convene a leadership meeting in Washington. Both he and Obama would attend the session.

Unsurprisingly, Obama so far has yet to announce that he’s willing to suspend his campaign to actually, well, do his job. In fact, as of right now Obama wants to keep the debate Friday.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain challenged rival Barack Obama on Wednesday to suspend their heated campaign, postpone Friday’s debate and work together to deal with the nation’s financial troubles. Obama did not immediately respond to his rival’s surprising political move, but campaign officials said the senator is inclined to move ahead with the debate.

…

McCain adviser Mark Salter initially said the senator would suspend all advertising and campaign events until a workable deal is reached on the bailout proposal — but only if the Obama campaign agreed to do the same. But later, McCain adviser Steve Schmidt said McCain would move ahead regardless of whether Obama agrees.

The move put Obama in a bind. Rejecting the idea would allow McCain alone to appear above politics, but agreeing to suspend campaigning and the debate could make Obama look like he’s following McCain’s lead.

If Obama really saw himself as nothing more than a humble public servant, then why would he be hesitating to suspend his campaign? Not only is this a good move for McCain politically, but it was the right move. Why? Because, as McCain has pointed out, first and foremost he and Barack Obama are United States Senators. Neither one of them is the President yet. And their constituents did not elect them to the Senate so that they could further their political careers and be President one day, or with the expectation that they’d skip out on legislating in the Senate in favor of campaigning. And now more than ever, constituents expect their Representatives and Senators to be there in Congress and the Senate, working their butts off to fix this mess they put us in. Just because Obama and McCain are running for President doesn’t mean they get to skip out on their job. They still have responsibilities, and extremely important ones at that.

Their job title is not Professional Presidential Campaigner. Their job title is still Senator. And these are extreme circumstances. Yes, it is inconvenient and it may mean making sacrifices for their campaigns. At least McCain has his head in the right place and isn’t hesitating about what needs to be done.

So again I ask: what is Obama waiting for, if he truly is in this to serve the people?

How he handles this situation will, in my eyes, show us a lot. If he continues with his campaign, rather than going to Washington to work out a solution, it will undoubtedly prove that Obama is a self-serving asshat who, when the country needed leadership most, was more worried about his campaign than actually helping the people.

Here’s video of McCain’s statement:

Hat Tip: My colleague Kim at Wizbang

UPDATE: From Michelle, Obama and McCain have released a joint statement:

For Immediate Release

Contact: Press Office

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

703-650-5550

ARLINGTON, VA — Today, U.S. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama issued the following statement:

“The American people are facing a moment of economic crisis. No matter how this began, we all have a responsibility to work through it and restore confidence in our economy. The jobs, savings, and prosperity of the American people are at stake.

“Now is a time to come together — Democrats and Republicans — in a spirit of cooperation for the sake of the American people. The plan that has been submitted to Congress by the Bush Administration is flawed, but the effort to protect the American economy must not fail.

“This is a time to rise above politics for the good of the country. We cannot risk an economic catastrophe. Now is our chance to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of leading this country.”

So what now? Are they both suspending their campaigns? Are their campaigns both still on? Is McCain’s campaign still suspended? This statement is completely vacuous and answers no questions.

Anyway, a lot of people have suggested McCain has Sarah Palin go in his place Friday. I think that’s a great idea. She’ll eat Obama for breakfast.