John McCain threw the election campaign into turmoil last night with the news that he was suspending his campaign to focus on fixing Wall Street. But the New York Times reports that Barack Obama has rejected his opponent’s call to postpone Friday’s presidential debate.

A short time after McCain’s announcement,  Obama called a news conference to say the debate should go ahead.

“Obama agreed ‘there are times for politics and there are times to rise above politics and do what’s right.’ But he said he saw no need to cancel the debate, scheduled for Friday night at the University of Mississippi.’This is exactly the time when people need to hear from the candidates,’ Mr. Obama said.

“He added: ‘Part of the president’s job is to deal with more than one thing at once. In my mind it’s more important than ever.'”

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