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Barack Obama rejected the proposal -- put forward by John McCain today -- that the two presidential candidates leave the campaign trail, delay Friday's debate, and return to Washington to work on a bailout package for the economy,

"Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time," he said, "it is not necessary for us to think we can do only one thing and suspend everything else."

Expressing concern about infusing "Capitol Hill with presidential politics," Obama said it was his desire to see the debate go forward.

"With respect to the debates it is my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who in roughly 40 days will be responsible for this mess," he said. "I think it is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once. I don't see why we can't be constructive in helping with this problem."

Obama, who would not commit to taking advertisements off the air as McCain's campaign has, delivered his remarks hours after McCain announced the suspension of his campaign. The Arizona Republican insisted that it was time for the two candidates to return to work to help push forward a bi-partisan bailout package to deal with the financial crisis.

Earlier in the afternoon, Democrats in Congress were already calling out McCain for engaging in what was described, at various times, as a "Hail Mary pass" and a "deeply cynical" ploy.

"The debate should take place as scheduled," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with NPR to be broadcast this afternoon. "We have to be able to do a couple of things at once. That's what leadership requires."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement that McCain's move would actually impair negotiations over the bailout by introducing politics into the equation.