Remember the pleading post from Red State, just begging for Rev. Rick Warren to ask “gotcha” questions? He still states he will not do this:
“Well, I’m a pastor, not a pundit,” he told CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux on Thursday’s “Situation Room.” “One of the things we’re going to do is I’m going to ask identical questions to both candidates, which will be different.
“I’m not going to play ‘gotcha’ with one candidate and not with the other. This way, it will be totally fair. You compare apples to apples,” he added.
There is, however, an interesting wrinkle:
TAPPER: Would you have compunctions about voting for someone who had cheated on his wife?
WARREN: Absolutely I would. Absolutely I would. Because if you can’t keep your faith to your most sacred vow – “’til death do us part” — how in the world can I trust you to lead my family? My government? My nation?…Absolutely I would. I think people first need to ask forgiveness and then earn trust back over time Can trust be re-earned? Absolutely but it takes time.
Ruh roh. So, for example, if he were to ask both candidates an open-ended question about marital fidelity of both candidates, who do you think will come off better? I may have to watch this after all.
Frank Jacobs
To my knowledge, only one of the candidates has ever had an affair and been married more than once. He can feel free to ask away! I would love to see McCain try to answer that sort of question with a straight face.
Of course, a secondary effect would be to underscore – once again – just how damn old McCain is. People would be thinking to themselves, “aww, poor old guy, of course he’d never have an affair… he’s probably not even having sex much anymore, and how many years does he have left with Cindy, really, anyway?”
Just Some Fuckhead
Growing up around the likes of Rick Warren, I’m convinced it’s a mistake to cede our public affairs discourse to the priestly class. I really hate that Obama agreed to this.
Martin
Saddleback doesn’t carry the strong moral positions that you typically see from the religious right. Wedge issues aren’t big there – this isn’t a monster anti-gay, anti-abortion group. The abortion stuff will be something of an issue, but they will center more around the broader issues of how can faith help improve our lives and nation.
Being in OC, these people are more Reagan Republicans in the proper sense (as opposed to what people think they are). They’re Republicans on fiscal and small government issues moreso than all of the moral junk.
Obama will do far better at Saddleback than McCain – mainly because Obama has actually thought about these issues and can speak genuinely on them and tie them back to his own life. Pretty much time McCain does this, you can see the elements of his own life that directly contradicts what he just said. It’ll look something like this.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
But Warren can’t ask both candidates the same questions regarding marital fidelity because Barack HUSSEIN Obama wasn’t a POW and never received the “Cheat On Your Wife for FREE” POW membership card.
greynoldsct00
Hey John, OT, but it’s been hard to get on the site the last couple days. Has someone linked to you or is Word Press having issues? I’m missing my BJ fix…
jake
And the pastor will be denounced as an islahomofacists in 5…4…3…
Citizen Counter Checkers, attack!
greynoldsct00
Yeah, and without Sean Hannity to help him out by claiming that because he’s a POW his infedility didn’t count. Did you all see that video circulating yesterday? I think I saw it a Josh’s place.
db
BREAKING NEWS!!! Tapper reports that Obama cheated on his wife when teaching at Chicago:
youtube.com/watch?v=OBghD0XBN5M
dslak
Tapper could smell the scent of a woman other than Michelle on Obama’s clothing.
greynoldsct00
Aw jeez, and I fell for it, I should have known better…
Houdini's Ghost
Yeah, but he won’t ask a question about marital fidelity, because he knows McCain will come off badly. He will ask identical questions like “How will you protect Christian American families from the terrifying threat of gay people marrying?” or “How committed are you to protecting womb-babies from the evil liberal abortion industry?” It’s absurd to say that simply asking the same question of both candidates means the event is unbiased, or that no “gotchas” will be included.
Wayne
Warren will not ask the question regarding infidelity as it relates to …..anything. Problem solved.
montysano
McCain is a giant bundle of liabilities, with a closet full of skeletons. Without his Beltway MSM enablers, he’d be toast. Any Christian with any integrity would have to vote for BO.
I loved the Hannity/Colmes video: it’s destined to be a classic in the head-go-explodey genre.
Punchy
Ruh Roh is Right. Warren, apparently, has just become a terrist-sucking, anti-American Obamanite who is a closet drunk lefty and rubs Michael Moore’s belly fat with KY.
Why else would he even question McCain’s motives, otherwise?
The Other Steve
Isn’t Saddleback kind of a weird name for a church?
Sounds more like the name of a Gay bar.
Martin
It sits at the base of Saddleback mountain that looks like a saddle. There’s a ton of stuff in the area named Saddleback.
The weird name is the airport. Named after John Wayne? Really? Who thought that made sense? I mean, sure, the guy lived around here but so what?
Corner Stone
He will never ask the infidelity question.
On the other hand, when he says he will ask the same question to both candidates I believe it will go something like this:
Senator Obama, exactly when did you stop beating your wife?
Senator McCain, when do you think Senator Obama stopped beating his wife?
IOW – the questions themselves will allow for the punditry to shine through.
Wayne
“Isn’t Saddleback kind of a weird name for a church? Sounds more like the name of a Gay bar.”
Actually its at the intersection of the Brokeback and Bareback mountain ranges.
dbrown
once I joined a fundamentalist church many years ago (hey, the blonde girl that talked me into it was HOT). The Preacher they had was rather well spoken and appeared even handed and enlightened – so far, so good.
Then he mad a fatal error – he spoke the words of Christ about divorce and that all those who did that needed to rethink it and consider going back to their original spouse and boy, did the shit hit the fan. That Minister was out within one week! Never cross that line if you want to survive even in a Christian Fundamentalist church!
That Minister will never ask that question.
Phoebe
As long as we’re predicting, my prediction is that Rick Warren is doing this for the sole purpose of flushing McCain out, and that he really likes Obama, and he’s tired of the God-is-a-Republican kneejerk mentality. I think this will be interesting.
A.Political
Wayne Says:
“Isn’t Saddleback kind of a weird name for a church? Sounds more like the name of a Gay bar.”
Actually its at the intersection of the Brokeback and Bareback mountain ranges.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
======
A penis runs through it…
cleek
BTW, this debate is tomorrow, primetime.
Just Some Fuckhead
NFW. Rick Warren is in it for the sweet personal glory it brings him.
Brother Flaming Taser of Warm Reason
I want to watch this just to see McCain squirm. He’s never been comfortable talking about religion or being around the religious. It should be interesting.
gil mann
I’m gonna vote againt this guy so hard the machine’ll break, but I do love that about him.
Medicine Man
Make sure to get some highlights posted here. I’m going to miss it, but I’d like to know how it turns out.
John PM
No need; the machine will be broken when you go into vote. All hail Diebold!
Is Rick Warren the guy who wrote “The Purpose Driven Life”? If so, I predice the first question to be as follows: “Have you read my book? If not, why not?”
Phoebe
Just Some Fuckhead: yeah. You’re right. Still, this should be interesting.
Georgette Orwell
“One of the things we’re going to do is I’m going to ask identical questions to both candidates, which will be different.
Huh? Which will be different, the identical questions or the candidates?
jbarntt
to John Cole:
Given that Warren asked the same questions of both candidates, I fail to understand your criticism. If your criticism of Warren was made before the fact, then you are a bigot and apparently a guy with a functioning crystal ball. If your comment is after the fact, then you are an idiot.
Seems to me that Warren did a good job, and did not slant his questions to the benefit or detriment of either candidate.
Care to address that ?