Campaigning takes backseat to mourning

Several White House hopefuls suspended their campaigning Tuesday in response to the massacre at Virginia Tech.

On the Republican side, the top-tier candidates canceled all events for Tuesday. The campaigns of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced that no events would be held, and John McCain’s camp stated that the Arizona senator would cancel a campaign-finance event in Atlanta and a town hall event in South Carolina.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) postponed a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) had no public events scheduled.

Of the top-tier candidates from both parties, all but Romney have a statement on the shooting on the main page of their websites.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) shut down his website for 24 hours as a sign of sympathy for the victims.

---