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September 11th, 2008 at 10:20 pm

Video & Photos: Barack Obama John McCain Commemorate 9/11 Anniversary 9-11-08

Barack Obama and John McCain at Ground Zero, New York City, commemorating the seventh anniversary of 9/11

U.S. Presidential candidates Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain suspended campaign activities and made a rare joint appearance at Ground Zero, New York City, commemorating the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Barack Obama and John McCain laid flowers at the spot where the World Trade Center towers once stood, in an unprecedented joint appearance to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

With no speeches and little fanfare, the two candidates shook hands and put their presidential ambitions on hold as they chatted and walked together down a ramp into the pit where the towers fell in the Sept. 11 attacks. They spoke with family members of victims and observed a moment of silence after placing roses in a reflecting pool.

In the seven years since the terrorist strike that killed almost 3,000 people in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, Sept. 11 has been a tool and a trap for U.S. politicians. Yet the day itself has remained sacred.

Barack Obama and John McCain at Ground Zero, New York City, commemorating the seventh anniversary of 9/11

Barack Obama, John McCain in the foreground; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Cindy McCain in the background

“Both parties have used it for their own political benefits, but it is risky,” said Trent Duffy, a former aide to President George W. Bush and a partner at the Washington communications firm HDMK. The candidates “realize that the best statesmanship, and hence the best political move, is to not play politics on 9/11.”

Barack Obama and John McCain at Ground Zero, New York City, commemorating the seventh anniversary of 9/11

Keeping up the nonpartisan spirit of the commemoration, McCain and Obama later will make back-to-back appearances at a televised forum on civic engagement sponsored by Columbia University. The subject is one of the few on which the candidates generally agree.

Source: Obama, McCain Put Politics Aside on 9/11 Anniversary

Photo credit: James Estrin/Getty Images North America