At a press conference now, Barack Obama just said that this is exactly the time that Americans need to hear from the two candidates, one of whom will soon be in charge of this mess. In fact, he said, having a a debate is "more important than ever."
MORE: Obama says that while he is willing and ready to go to Washington if it will be helpful, he won't go if it means injecting presidential politics into delicate negotiations.
He also said, regarding suspending the campaign, "Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time."
Even if they are in Washington, he said they could fly to Mississippi pretty quicly for the debate.