Obama: Friday debate should go on

CLEARWATER, Florida (CNN) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he wants Friday's scheduled presidential debate to go ahead, despite John McCain's call for a suspension of campaigning to deal with the faltering economy.

"It's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsible for dealing with this mess," Obama said.

He added, "I think that it is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."