FOR MCCAIN, A SUDDEN SWITCH IN STRATEGY FOR MCCAIN, A SUDDEN SWITCH IN STRATEGY How the political drama between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama unfolded Wednesday: 8:30 a.m. ET Obama calls McCain but does not reach him. Obama says later that he intended to speak with his rival about issuing a joint statement on the financial crisis. 2:30 p.m. McCain calls back. Brian Rogers, a McCain spokesman, says McCain suggested they both return to Washington to work on the bailout plan. Obama says he asked McCain to join him in issuing a statement about their commitment to work toward a solution. He says McCain mentioned the idea of suspending their campaigns and delaying their Friday debate. 2:35 p.m. In a statement to reporters in New York, McCain says he is suspending his campaign and seeking to delay Friday's debate. National TV outlets air video of the remarks about 20 minutes later. 3:12 p.m. Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, e-mails reporters saying McCain had agreed earlier to a joint statement and that the campaigns were working out details. 4:39 p.m. Obama tells reporters in Clearwater, Fla., the debate should go on. He says he'll return to Washington if it's helpful but is wary of injecting presidential politics into sensitive talks on the Wall Street bailout. 5:33 p.m. The Commission on Presidential Debates says it is moving forward with the debate in Oxford, Miss. 7:30 p.m. President Bush invites McCain and Obama to a White House meeting today with congressional leaders on the rescue plan. 8:30 p.m. The candidates issue a joint statement saying it's "time to rise above partisan politics for the good of the country." Reported by Mark Memmott, David Jackson, Richard Wolf FINANCIAL TURMOIL FINANCIAL TURMOIL More coverage: Recession is official, economists say NEW YORK  Statesmanship or gamesmanship? As he did four weeks ago with his pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, Republican John McCain shook up the presidential race Wednesday with an unexpected maneuver. Announcing that he was suspending his campaign so he could return to Washington and join negotiations on the White House's proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, McCain sought to portray himself as a forceful leader on the economy, an issue on which he's been stumbling in the polls. POLITICS BLOG: McCain says 'America should be proud of' bipartisan work on rescue plan MORE BLOG: Text of McCain speech Thursday in New York "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. Democrat Barack Obama agreed the talks "should not be subject to the usual partisan politics" but questioned McCain's call to postpone their debate scheduled for Friday in Oxford, Miss. "This is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess," he said. The fast-moving developments sent behind-the-scenes talks on Capitol Hill colliding with a fierce presidential campaign now heading into its final five weeks. McCain's move — praised by some Republicans as a sign of leadership, ridiculed by Democrats as grandstanding — was a gamble that might recast a slipping campaign. It also could affect what is likely to be the biggest bailout in U.S. history. POLITICS BLOG: How the news unfolded BUSH: 'Entire economy' at risk Late Wednesday, Obama and McCain issued a joint statement calling for "a spirit of cooperation" to resolve the financial crisis. Both senators are expected at the White House this afternoon for a meeting with President Bush and congressional leaders. The back-and-forth between the McCain and Obama campaigns Wednesday underscored what has emerged as striking differences in the candidates' characters and responses to a crisis: McCain's willingness to take a risk and Obama's refusal to be distracted from his game plan. "McCain needed to do something dramatic to change the tone of the conversation," said Dan Schnur, a top aide in McCain's 2000 campaign. "It may work. It may not work. But it's got a much better chance of working than just sitting there and letting this crisis roll over him." Democrats — noting that until recently McCain had opposed government intervention in the financial crisis and insisted the economy was fundamentally sound — cast his move as politically convenient. "Transparent, vapid publicity stunt," Democratic pollster Mark Mellman scoffed. McCain essentially tried to cast Obama in the position of junior partner, following McCain's lead on the dominant issue of the day. Obama made clear that he was the one who first called McCain Wednesday morning to ask that the two campaigns issue a joint statement outlining their principles for a deal. Obama said he only learned of McCain's plans to return to Washington from TV. Still unclear was the status of their debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET Friday. Obama said he was prepared to participate. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has represented McCain in debate negotiations, said the Arizona senator wouldn't participate unless a deal had been sealed in Congress by then, which seems unlikely. McCain's move came as his campaign faces trouble on several fronts. National polls sponsored by ABC-Washington Post and NBC-Wall Street Journal showed Obama gaining favor as the economy dominated voters' concerns. There's also a brewing controversy over payments to McCain campaign manager Rick Davis and his firm from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been taken over by the government. On Capitol Hill, McCain's move could complicate sensitive negotiations on the bailout. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made it clear McCain wasn't welcome. When McCain called Reid and said he wanted to sit down with congressional leaders, Reid read him a statement he had released to reporters characterizing McCain's move as a gimmick. Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the Nevada Democrat told McCain "it would not be helpful" for the candidates to get involved in the talks and risk injecting presidential politics in them. "We need leadership, not a campaign photo op," Reid said. In the long haul, though, the support of both McCain and Obama is likely to be crucial for any bailout deal. As president, one of them will be responsible for implementing its provisions and dealing with its consequences. Playing phone tag So who called first? In a sign of the political one-upmanship at work throughout the day, the campaigns jockeyed to take credit for making the first step toward joint action on the financial crisis. Obama said he got the idea of a joint statement from Oklahoma's Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans in the Senate. Coburn entered the Senate in 2005, the same year as Obama, and the two became fast, if unlikely, friends. At 8:30 a.m. ET, Obama called McCain to suggest the idea. Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Obama wanted "to ask (McCain) if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal, and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal." McCain called back at 2:30 p.m. and the two agreed to have staffers work on a statement. About five minutes later, McCain was telling reporters the he was suspending his campaign, returning to Washington and calling for a postponement of the debate. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers downplayed Obama's call, saying the Democrat hadn't reached McCain or said why he was calling. "Sen. McCain was meeting with economic advisers and talking to leaders in Congress throughout the day prior to calling Sen. Obama," Rogers said. When McCain called him back, Rogers said, the Arizona senator expressed "deep concern that the plan on the table would not pass" and asked Obama to join him in returning to Washington to help solve the problem. Obama told reporters he thought McCain was only "mulling" the idea of going back to Washington. Almost immediately afterward, he saw McCain on TV. Graham, a McCain confidant, said he has given the GOP nominee daily briefings on the negotiations over the bailout package and that they decided Tuesday night the campaign should be suspended until the financial crisis was resolved. "Obama and McCain both need to come back," Graham said, adding that he's concerned about the consequences if Congress fails to reach a deal. The South Carolina Republican denied that McCain's move was motivated by politics or polls showing the economic crisis was pushing voters into Obama's camp. "The numbers he's worried about now are people's 401(k)s," Graham said. He called the congressional hearings "a disaster," with no signs that members of Congress or voters were coalescing around the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. However, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., countered that there has been progress in the bailout negotiations, and that McCain's return to Washington is an effort to take credit for a solution that will happen anyway. He called McCain's move "the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys." Agreement on principles During the first presidential race in U.S. history to feature two sitting senators, both have been AWOL from their day jobs as they pursue the White House. The last time Obama cast a vote in the Senate was July 9; McCain's last vote was April 8. For all the political wrangling over whether the candidates should be involved in the bailout talks, there were some on both sides who said they belong at the table. In an interview Tuesday night, Sen. Mark Pryor, a centrist Democrat who has worked with McCain and Obama on other bipartisan deals, expressed what he thought was only a wistful hope that they might return. "We need leadership right now," Pryor had said. "It would be good … for them to suspend their campaigns and come back here and really work with us on this, come up with something we can all do together." But, he said, "they wouldn't do this; they've got a debate Friday." Despite their bickering, Obama and McCain generally agree about what the key principles of a bailout plan should be. McCain's ideas track closely with what Obama has demanded, including an independent oversight board, relief for homeowners threatened with foreclosure and pay limits for executives whose troubled companies take part in the bailout program. President Bush last night said he hoped the presence of the two presidential competitors at the negotiating table would "help speed our discussions toward a bipartisan bill" in a divided Congress, where complaints about the administration's rescue plan span the ideological gamut from free-market conservatives such as Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who describes himself as a socialist. Still, Obama is a first-term senator and McCain isn't particularly influential with the conservative wing of his party. Indeed, some of the fiercest GOP critics of the bailout plan — DeMint and Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and John Cornyn, R-Texas — are the same lawmakers who tangled with McCain last year over a bipartisan immigration bill the Arizona Republican drafted with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. A similar prairie fire has engulfed Capitol Hill this week. DeMint said the reaction from his constituents reflects his opposition. "It's 100 to 1 against it." Contributing: David Jackson Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more