John McCain has asked Barack Obama to call off the upcoming debate due to the financial crisis, and has officially suspended his campaign to return to Washington D.C. to work on the bailout bill.

This is a very strange move, given that Congress is in the process of hammering out a deal with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Could it be that the real crisis is that McCain saw all of the recent polls showing him losing ground on the issue of the economy? Can we read this as anything but another cynical attempt to grab headlines?

He wouldn't have been able to head back to Washington to vote on the bailout without grandstanding? Congress has been meeting for the last three days on this matter. Why is he suddenly so attentive? Read McCain's statement here.

Suspending a campaign means what, exactly? No more television ads? No press releases? Or does this just extend to speaking engagements?

Perhaps this is just a case of one-upmanship, considering that Obama privately called McCain at 8:30 a.m. and asked that the two men issue a joint statement of principles on the bailout proposal.