(I forgot you have this thread here.)

Obama takes two days off because his grandmother falls ill.

Because his grandmother Madelyn Dunham, 85, has taken ill, Barack Obama is canceling events scheduled for Thursday in Madison, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa, and flying to Hawaii, his campaign announced this evening.

On a flight from Orlando to West Palm Beach, Fla., tonight, senior campaign adviser Robert Gibbs told reporters that the health of the Illinois senator's grandmother, who helped raise him, had taken a turn for the worse, necessitating Obama leaving the campaign trail for two days.

Gibbs said Obama would return from Hawaii late Friday evening or early Saturday morning.

"Sen. Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has always been one of the most important people in his life, along with his mother and grandfather," Gibbs said, reading a statement. "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 Sen. 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 to the campaign trail on Saturday." A new event Thursday morning in Indianapolis has been added to the schedule, after which Obama will fly to Honolulu, scheduled to arrive in the 50th state late Thursday. Obama plans to spend much of Friday with his grandmother in her apartment, Gibbs said.

Michelle Obama will hold events in place of her husband in Akron and Columbus, Ohio, on Friday.

Gibbs would not provide details about the nature of Dunham's illness, except to say that, with approximately two weeks to go until Election Day, "the decision that Sen. Obama is going to Hawaii, I think, underscores the seriousness of the situation."

Obama's wife and daughters will not be joining him on this trip. When Obama visited his grandmother in Hawaii in August, he suggested that it was important for his children to spend time with her, given her advanced years.

"I'm going to see my grandma, who I haven't seen in almost 18-19 months," he said on Aug. 7. "And, you know, who's getting to the age where I want to make sure that I'm spending time with her on a consistent basis and so that she could see her great grandchildren."


ABC News: Obama Takes Two Days Off to See Ailing Grandmother