Tonight At Saddleback Church

Tonight was the big moment, so far, of this presidential campaign death march. The Saddleback Civil Forum On The Presidency with Pastor Rick Warren spending one hour each with the two presumptive candidates for president, Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama.
Sen. Obama went first and, to be honest I felt like I was back in college having a bull session with a professor. Oh, Sen. Obama had a lot of the faith lines down pretty well, but one question I would have wanted Pastor Warren to ask would have been how he could have stayed in a "church" for 20 years led by a man like the "Rev." Jeremiah Wright. But, remember, this was a civil forum.
Where Sen. Obama blew it big time is the simple question that Pastor Warren asked as to when human life begins. After the patented stuttering and stammering, Sen. Obama answered with a flip, "Its above my pay grade." I am sorry, but here is the problem that the pro-abortion side can never get right. If they believe that life begins at conception, then they have to admit that abortion is murder, denying that child the right to be born. So, that is why someone like Sen. Obama stutters and stammers and then says, "Its above my pay grade".
And he did not help himself on the question of marriage. Again, he gave a pat answer as to his personal view of marriage, but came up with some gobbly-goop about not wanting to deny a right to others and that he opposed Prop 8 on the California ballot.
A digression.
Prop 8 would define marriage as between one man and one woman and nothing else. For the record, it would not take away any, any of the domestic partnership legislation that essentially gives gays and lesbians much of what a married couple have now.
I am afraid that Sen. Obama looked like he was still body surfing in Hawaii.
Another digression. I would have been much more impressed if Sen. Obama would have actually surfed, like you know, on a surfboard, dude.
Seriously, I do not think that the American people want to have four years of Professor, er President Obama leading the largest college classroom of all time.
But, on Sen. McCain I think he looked the best he has looked in the campaign season. Sen. McCain actually looked comfortable, was cracking jokes and on occasion gave us a glimpse of his personal side that nearly brought him to tears on more than one occasion.
Sen. McCain was able to answer the when does human life begin question quickly and unequivocally. At conception.
And, he said he believes in marriage between one man and one woman and supports Prop 8 and to try to let the states handle it. He even went so far as to support the federal constitution being changed if a federal judge forces one state to recognize a state that allows same-sex marriage. Sen. McCain had not done so in the past with such forcefulness.
Sen. McCain admitted his greatest moral failing was the end of his first marriage to Carol McCain. And that was enough for me.
Overall, I think that for the first time, both candidates showed that they will allow the tough questions and answer them. Sometimes in a cloudy haze of academia. Or with blunt, short answers.
And to Pastor Warren, thank you for doing this. I do not get why he gets into so much trouble from my fellow traditionalists in engaging the other side. I believe that what he did is show that while he may have a preference, he will not share that and try to play it down the middle. Not like many a modernist or many a black preacher that lets their church be used like a Democrat ATM machine. Pastor Warren is not a politician but a man of God that engages all sides. That way, he does not get into trouble like some have done in the past.
All in all, I think that if there was a winner, tonight for once it was Sen. McCain.