At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him 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. At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama’s call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details.

What’s changed today in the financial crisis other than John McCain’s poll numbers tanking? Isn’t this the campaign equivalent of faking an injury when you’re down late in the 4th quarter? Note too that McCain was in the midst of debate prep when he made this decision.

Look at what appears to have happened. Obama reached out to McCain privately to agree to a shared set of bailout principles. McCain went off the handle again and tried to use the crisis as a way to call off the debates.

Late Update: One longtime reader says it’s worse than that:

Obama reached out privately, because once this discussion went public it was bound to be politicized. Instead of taking his call and hearing what he had to say, McCain spent the next six hours huddling with his aides, searching for a way of turning the situation to his political advantage. His response – a unilateral, public call for cooperation – was designed to retake the initiative and steal Obama’s thunder. But it also ends any hope of actual cooperation.

Obama reached out, hoping that McCain would see something more important at stake than his own personal ambition. Alas, it would appear that there is nothing more important to McCain.

Early reports are that Obama wants the debate Friday to go forward as scheduled.

So far Dems are more than just a little lukewarm to this McCain gambit.

Here’s part of Sen. Harry Reid’s just-released statement:

I understand that the candidates are putting together a joint statement at Senator Obama’s suggestion. But it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op.

Reid also calls for the debate to go on as scheduled.

The guy who a week ago said the fundamentals of our economy remain strong suddenly suspends his campaign and wants to cancel the first presidential debate to rush back to Washington to deal with a crisis that his vice presidential candidate now says could lead to another Great Depression if not addressed immediately.

Let’s state outright a few obvious points. Bringing the presidential candidates and their press entourages back to Capitol Hill won’t speed or improve the process of coming up with a good bailout deal. It will politicize it. That’s so transparently obvious that it barely requires stating. And of course that is the point.

By going public with his ‘suspension’ announcement as a breaking news statement McCain intended to make any agreement between the candidate impossible. Contrast that with Obama’s campaign, which apparently tried to get both campaigns to agree on a common set of principles privately before going public. There’s no logical reason there can’t be a presidential debate while a bailout plan is being negotiated.

Finally, does anyone think that McCain would have come up with this gambit if his polls were where they were two weeks ago instead of where they are today? Of course, not. This isn’t a reaction to the national financial crisis but to the McCain polling crisis.

The McCain supporters who are cheering this aren’t doing so because they think it’s the right thing to do but because they hope it’s ingenious politics.

If anyone can think of any reason why these points are not incontestably accurate, I would be obliged if you could let me know.

He’s desperate and reckless. This is what it appears to be: political stunt dressed up as vainglorious self-sacrifice. In other words, typical John McCain.

A plugged in reader who’s a Democratic lobbyist writes in with a good point:

The deal on the “bail out” is 98% done. Treasury has capitulated on almost every point. A draft is circulating on the Hill now. No one needs McCain to help do the remaining 2%….except the White House who has no standing on this matter on the Hill with either Democrats or Republicans.

I’m very curious to see the big-media pundit reaction to McCain’s debate cancellation stunt. When you see, can you let me know? Folks on the cable nets. Prestige pundits with their own blogs like Klein et al. Lemme know and we’ll round them up.

Sen. Schumer on McCain stunt: “Just weird…”

Late Update: Joe Klein sees it for what it is — a desperate gimmick. Doesn’t like Obama’s joint statement idea either.

SurveyUSA has just completed a snap poll on response to John McCain’s request to cancel or postpone the presidential debate.

Several questions. But two key ones.

What to do about debates?

Hold as Scheduled 50%
Hold with Econ Focus 36%
Postpone 10%

Suspend Campaigns?

Suspend 14%
Continue 31%
Refocus on Fin. Crisis 48%

Would canceling the debates be good for America? 14% say yes.

TPMmuckraker has obtained a copy of a draft bailout plan that was circulating on the Hill this afternoon.