Obama Cancels Events to Visit Sick Grandmother in Hawaii

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By Niall Stanage

October 20, 2008 | 9:08 p.m

Barack Obama's campaign just announced that he is canceling events in Des Moines and Madison scheduled for Thursday in order to be with his ailing grandmother.

He will go to Indianapolis Thursday and then leave for Hawaii in the early afternoon. He will be back on the trail Saturday. On the campaign plane, spokesman Robert Gibbs declined "for privacy reasons" to say anything about her condition other than saying it was "very serious...I think everyone understands that the decision Senator Obama is making to go to Hawaii underscores the seriousness of the situation."

Here's the official statement from Gibbs:

"Senator Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has always been one of the most important people in his life. Along with his mother and his grandfather, she raised him in Hawaii from the time he was born until the moment he left for college. As he said at the Democratic Convention, she poured everything she had into him.

Recently, his Grandmother has become ill, and in the last few weeks, her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Senator Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her. He will be returning the the campaign trail on Saturday."