By now the forum that Rick Warren hosted with Obama and McCain is old news. But I still want to discuss it. Sadly, I was not able to watch it. I was busy all night and the place I’m staying doesn’t have cable. Oh well, life goes on. I am quite certain I would have not learned much about either candidate but watching the first “debate” (it wasn’t really a debate, I know that) would have been cool to do.
Here are a couple thoughts of mine, while also touching on some other great thoughts on the night:
- Rich Kirkpatrick called the night historial. I tend to agree with him. Never before has a church given its congregation (and the world) a chance for 2 candidates to share on their faith. Rick Warren did an incredible job of letting both candidates share about the role their faith plays out in their leadership. Christians were recognize by national media as people who are not simply aligned with one party and I think that is historical too.
- I thought it was great to hear personal stories from both men. McCain shared a heart felt story about a Christmas day at a POW camp and Obama shared his personal faith in Jesus (of course my grandparents still think he is Muslim). No other debate the rest of this race will allow the candidates to share these stories in such a relaxed way.
- Obama called “rich” someone who makes 250k…McCain said someone who makes 5 million. Woah! Little bit of a difference there…not that it means anything, just interesting.
- Eugene Cho talked about Rick Warren’s thought process behind the event. I originally was skeptical of why Warren wanted to implant himself into a hot bed of opinions that this race has become. But as I’ve read about why he desired for the forum to happen I have been quite pleased with his ability to be a great leader for evangelicals. I don’t agree with him in all areas for sure, but I would rather have him “speak” for me than James Dobson.
Here are a couple other good things to read:
- The differences between the candidates is pretty stark.
- Brian McLaren and the Matthew 25 Network paid for an Obama ad during the CNN coverage. I’ve already shared my thoughts on this back HERE…but I think the ad further confirms my stance that endorsement is never just for yourself (especially when you go on tv supporting a candidate).
- Now they are both arguing about whether McCain was truly in a “cone of silence”. It never ends…
- A full transcript of the entire night.
All I have read so far is that no one learned anything new about the candidates…so in your thinking, what was accomplished in this forum?
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