Historians Size Up Obama’s Timeout

By LIZ ROBBINS
NYT

When Senator Barack Obama announced he would stop campaigning for more than 36 hours starting on Thursday, and would instead fly to Hawaii to visit his gravely ill grandmother, presidential historians noted that it was an unprecedented step for a candidate this close to Election Day, but they differed about the political risks of such a personal decision.

With just two weeks of campaign time remaining, Mr. Obama, who is ahead of his opponent, Senator John McCain, in most national polls, will travel five time zones and six hours west from the critical battleground state of Ohio. He will visit Madelyn Dunham, 85, the woman who raised him from the age of 10 until he went away to college.

Mr. Obama, who was campaigning in Florida on Tuesday, will make an appearance in Indianapolis on Thursday, but he canceled stops planned for Wisconsin and Iowa after that so that he can fly to Honolulu. His wife, Michelle Obama, will attend rallies in Akron and Columbus in his place.

(Continued here.)