"I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress," says McCain.

This is, I think, a smart demonstration of leadership. McCain is suspending his campaign and seeking a postponement of the debate that is scheduled for this Friday.

Meanwhile, speaking of leadership, where's our incredible shrinking president, Mr. Bush?

UPDATE: Obama says that "there are times for politics and there are times to rise above politics and do what’s right," but now is not the time to cancel the debate. "This is exactly the time when people need to hear from the candidates." And: "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."

I suppose Obama couldn't very well follow McCain's lead. In fact, if McCain had really been serious about this, he should have worked it out with Obama in private, so that the two men could make a joint announcement. McCain went for political theatrics, and I guess he can use it against Obama now, which was probably the point, but Obama's reaction was so predictable that McCain's show of statesmanship was entirely bogus, so I will be impervious to that rhetoric.