It has put extra pressure on presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, as both fumble in the dark as they seek to prove their leadership qualities.

McCain, however, saw fit to take an extraordinary step on Tuesday: He announced he’d be suspending his campaign and returning to Capitol Hill to work on the $700 billion bailout deal.

But was this the correct response?

Defenders of McCain would say it’s definitely the right thing to do. As a senior legislator, his voice could hold weight in the crafting of any deal, and it would be irresponsible of him to miss votes on an issue of this magnitude.

The problem is many can’t help but see the move as a political ploy. After experiencing a major bump in the polls following the dual act of the Republican National Convention and his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, his numbers have begun to sink in the wake of Wall Street’s troubles.

Current polls indicate the American people feel the economy is the most important issue in this election — and they trust Obama far more than McCain to handle the situation correctly as president.

Seen in this light, it doesn’t take a giant leap to guess someone might have thought a few photos and stories about McCain working diligently on the economic plan in Washington would do much to stem this tide.

It’s also difficult to foresee exactly what McCain hopes to accomplish in Washington. He doesn’t sit on any of the relevant committees, and no votes have come up thus far.

While he could definitely make a few speeches, he could do the same thing at any campaign stop.

If a vote did come, one can’t help but wonder why he couldn’t simply cancel only a few events and hop on a plane, vote and get back on the road.

Most troubling is the McCain campaign’s attempts to delay tonight’s debate. There are less than seven weeks until election day, and depriving the voters a chance to see the two candidates who seek to run the nation side-by-side would be doing them a great disservice.

It also isn’t helping his case that as of press time an outline of a bailout agreement was in place and his campaign was still indicating that he’d be avoiding the debate.

If McCain feels that strongly about the crisis, why doesn’t he simply suggest they throw out the assigned debate topic of foreign affairs and make it about the economy? Yes, the next few weeks will be important in shaping what the U.S.‘s economic future will be, but the next four years will probably have an even greater effect.

Will he really be so busy on a Friday night that he can’t take a few hours simply to speak to the American people and explain why they should elect him to the highest office?

The country deserves a leader who lives up to his responsibilities. What McCain needs to understand is that he currently has greater responsibilities than those of a senator.