In a shrewd move, Senator McCain has just proposed ^[1] delaying Friday’s first presidential debate–in order to convene a meeting with Obama, President Bush and other decision-makers from both parties to sort out the financial mess.

It makes McCain look engaged in solving the number one issue on the minds of Americans, right now. It gives him a bigger bully pulpit to fight the Christmas tree of legislation that is winding its way through Congress now (even student and car loans have been added to the bailout).

It minimizes the power of Rep. Barney Frank, who has rolled his Senate counterpart, Chris Dodd, and is leading the congressional effort. Rep. Frank is a key Obama ally.

It also presents a strategic problem for Obama. Until now, the Illinois freshman has been able to coast, saying he supports what Rep. Frank and other Democrats are doing. If Obama and McCain attend a White House summit, each will have to lay out detailed proposals for reform. Obama would have to lock himself in–and take criticism for his ties to Fannie and Freddie.

And if Obama refuses to attend the summit, he effectively announces that he is unready to lead in a crisis.

While this may be a shrewd move for the McCain campaign, it is not an example of “country first,” his campaign theme. The Dow may tumble on the news that all of the discussions of the past two weeks will be thrown up in the air, pending a White House summit with two presidential candidates who are 40 days away from an election. The street doesn’t like wild cards.

And the summit means more cooks in the kitchen. It will no longer just be Treasury Secretary Paulson, Rep. Frank and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke.  Having two presidential campaigns in the room sounds like a recipe for Yalta.

The best outcome for the country is to settle the financial crisis as soon as possible, for as little as possible.

But if Obama chooses “country first,” he may lose the election. Either one of Obama’s choices will be revealing–as is McCain’s move.

UPDATE: Obama is insisting the debate is still on ^[2]. That position may change, as preliminary polls seem to see McCain’s bet as statesmanlike.