NEW YORK - REPUBLICAN presidential candidate John McCain called on Wednesday for delaying a Friday debate with Democrat Barack Obama to help negotiate a Wall Street rescue plan in a surprise move that Mr Obama rejected.

'It's time for both parties to come together to solve this problem,' Mr McCain said in announcing he would suspend his campaign on Thursday to return to Washington and urging Obama to join him.

Mr Obama, in Clearwater, Florida, to prepare for the first of three face-to-face debates leading up to the Nov 4 election, said he saw no reason why the debate could not proceed on Friday in Oxford, Mississippi.

'Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at once,' he said. 'What I'm planning to do now is debate on Friday.'

Mr McCain warned he did not believe the Bush administration's proposed legislation on a US$700 billion (S$996 billion) bailout plan for the financial industry would pass the US Congress in its current form and that he and Mr Obama were needed in Washington to help reach a broad consensus.

The two candidates - Mr McCain an Arizona senator and Mr Obama and Illinois senator - spoke earlier in the day about issuing a joint statement, but Mr McCain jumped ahead by announcing his move first.

The White House and Republicans welcomed Mr McCain's move.

Some Democrats smelled a political stunt.

'We need leadership; not a campaign photo op,' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

Mr McCain's dramatic move, aimed at projecting leadership during the greatest US financial crisis since the Great Depression, came at a time when Americans have been telling pollsters they believed Mr Obama could handle the economy better than Mr McCain.

An ABC News-Washington Post opinion poll said Mr Obama had climbed to a 52 per cent to 43 per cent lead over Mr McCain, a survey the McCain camp questioned.

Mr McCain called on Mr Obama to join him in working together on a plan and said a consensus agreement on a bailout plan was needed by the time the financial markets open on Monday.

'We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved,' he said.

He said he was directing his campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the Commission on Presidential Debates to delay the debate until action is taken to address the financial crisis.

Seeking bipartisan approach
The University of Mississippi said as far as it knew, the debate was going ahead as scheduled.

'We're prepared and we fully expect the debate to take place,' said the school's chancellor, Robert Khayat.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Mr Obama called Mr McCain on Wednesday morning to ask if he would join him in issuing a joint statement aimed at taking a bipartisan approach to the endangered US$700 billion bailout.

The aim, said Mr Burton, would be to act in a bipartisan manner to pass 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,' Mr Burton said.

Mr McCain urged President George W. Bush to call for a bipartisan meeting of congressional leaders, including him and Mr Obama, to try to find an agreement.

The US$700 billion proposal would have the Treasury buy up bad mortgage-related debts from financial institutions, including US subsidiaries of foreign banks, to try to stem the financial storm.

But many lawmakers have heartburn about many of its provisions, criticising it as a lifeline for Wall Street when homeowners and ordinary Americans are suffering.

'It's a very unpopular bill,' Rep Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, said in Washington. 'The bill's in trouble in Congress. We're going to work together to fix it.'

Mr McCain said it was essential to pass legislation to deal with what he called a 'historic crisis'. 'If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake,' he said.

McCain senior strategist Steve Schmidt said the campaign suspension would include pulling Mr McCain's television ads and that his vice-presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, would not participate in campaign events either. Fundraising was also being halted. -- REUTERS