24 hours after John McCain suspended his campaign for president and asked to postpone tomorrow’s (Friday 09/26/08) scheduled presidential debate, SurveyUSA today Thursday 09/25/08 conducted a 2nd nationwide survey, that tracked a number of questions from SurveyUSA’s 1st nationwide survey conducted Wednesday 09/24/08 immediately after McCain’s announcement. Key findings from nationwide 09/25/08 survey of 1,200 adults:

3 of 4 Americans say the Friday debate should be held on Friday.

23% today Thursday say the debate should be postponed, up from 10% yesterday Wednesday.

The movement is primarily among Republicans, who, learning of McCain’s intentions, now align as follows:
37% of Republicans now say the debate should be postponed, up from 14%.

32% of Republicans now say the debate should be held as scheduled, down from 56%.

27% of Republicans now say the debate should held with a focus on the economy, unchanged.

See the interactive tracking graph, here.

3 of 4 Americans say presidential campaigning should continue. Just 16% say presidential campaigning should be suspended, largely unchanged from Wednesday.

60% of Americans have No Confidence in President Bush’s ability to lead during these economic times.

50% have No Confidence in John McCain’s ability to lead during these economic times.

43% have No Confidence in Barack Obama’s ability to lead during these economic times.
Half of Americans are now concerned that the bank whey they have their money will fail.

Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke remain largely unknown. Alan Greenspan is viewed slightly more favorably than unfavorably.

Caveats:

This survey was completed in middle of unprecedented economic and political turbulence — before agreement had been reached about whether debate would or would not be postponed, before an economic rescue for Wall Street had been announced. This survey should be viewed as a freeze-frame snapshot of public opinion at a unique moment in American history. Opinions can and should be expected to change as news events unfold. There are advantages and disadvantages to research conducted with a short field period.

Full results are here.