Obama rejects McCain's call to postpone debate

CLEARWATER, Florida (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday disagreed with opponent John McCain and said he wanted to carry on with Friday's presidential debate.

Obama made the statement shortly after McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, said the debate should be postponed. McCain said he would suspend his campaign to help work out agreement among lawmakers on a proposed $700 billion financial bailout plan to resolve the worst U.S. financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Obama arrived in Florida on Tuesday for three days of preparation ahead of Friday's debate on foreign policy.

(Reporting by Deborah Charles, editing by David Alexander)