I just finished watching the Saddleback Civil Forum (2nd airing) hosted by Saddleback Community Church. I viewed this forum with skepticism, but I have to say that I was happy with how it turned out.
I think Pastor Rick Warren got more information out of the two candidates than what we’ve seen in different debates. I liked the forum. I think there could have been more follow-up questions, but he covered a lot of ground. There was definitely a lot of tough questions and I am glad that abortion, gay marriage and other issues that I thought was going to be left out were discussed.
I am going to post my thoughts on this forum tomorrow (since I’ve got to get to bed), but one thing is certain you can see a clear contrast between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. While you wait for my thoughts… I’d like to encourage you to check out Amanda Carpenter’s recap on John McCain and Barack Obama over at TownHall.com. You can also check out Fox News coverage of the event.
6 Responses to “Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
I also watched the forum and thought that Warren did a great job on the questions. I don’t think that I learned anything new about the candidates positions.. well.. I was surprised that McCain and Obama have essentially the same position on a constitutional marriage amendment.. both feel that marriage and civil unions are a state issue.
I was disappointed that McCain felt that “saved and forgiven” was all he had to say about his testimony (still hopig that he will say Jesus some day) before he rehashed the POW cross in the sand story.
A thought that came to me as I watched was that the demeanor of John McCain is very similar to President Bush.. a bit cocky and sanctimonious.. often digressing to campaign stump speech rhetoric. On the other hand I thought that Obama came across a bit more contemplative and humble.. seemed genuinely interested in answering the questions and not giving a speech.
It will be interesting to see if the issues rule the day in this election like they did in 2000 & 2004 or if demeanor will be weighed in as well.
In my 30+ years of voting I don’t think that I have been undecided in August.. I am still watching and praying.
Look forward to reading your perspective.. suspect it may be bit different than mine
Thanks for giving me an opportunity to debrief the event.
Happy Sunday!!
Kansas Bobs last blog post..Procrastination
I didn’t catch it. Is there somewhere online to watch it?
Thanks for your thoughts Kansas Bob… I’ll share mine… hopefully by tonight, we’ll see how my day goes.
Eric, I’m not sure – you can check out the Saddleback Civil Forum link or perhaps Fox News.
YouTube may have it in chunks.
Try this one Eric:
http://www.cnn.com/video/live/live.html?stream=stream2
Kansas Bobs last blog post..Civil Forum Reflections
Looks like folks on both sides of the aisle noticed that Warren didn’t follow the script Shane..
http://blog.beliefnet.com/godometer/2008/08/mccains-surprise-triumph-at-sa.html
..I am way too consumed with this
Kansas Bobs last blog post..Civil Forum Reflections
Interesting!
Blessings,
Lance
http://www.lancessoulsearching.com
Lance Garguss last blog post..On The Anvil