I for one heartily endorse Mitt Romney as John McCain’s running mate. Picking Romney would complete McCain’s apotheosis as yet another empty suit, willing to pander to the religious right and compromise his positions when necessary. Conservatives, though, continue to oppose any move to put Romney on the ticket, partially because that course of action would dim Mike Huckabee’s chances in 2012.
What chances?
Meanwhile, conservatives continue to rankle, and liberals continue to furrow their brows, over McCain’s vaccilation on whether or not he’ll pick a pro-choice running mate.
Today at 8-10 EST (to be broadcast on CNN), Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and self-described reinventor of evangelical Christianity in America, will get John McCain and Barack Obama together on stage for the first time, at the “Saddleback Presidential Forum on Leadership and Compassion.”
I regret that I may not be able to cover this event live. Instead, I’ll have this pre-debate analysis, and post-debate coverage.
I’m thrilled to have the candidates finally on stage together (though they’ll answer questions separately). I share Progressive Conservative‘s about the relatively light debate schedule in this critical election. While I think Obama’s plan is to deny McCain the limelight, that’s (1) bad for American voters and (2) sends the way wrong message.
Warren’s debate promises to be critical for a number of reasons, and it carries a great potential for Obama to refocus the election.
First, this debate is what some have described as an evangelical “changing of the guard” – out with the old focus on abortion & putting down the gays, in with a multifaceted agenda for charity throughout life. While there’s reason to doubt Warren’s commitment to downplay the culture wars – Warren famously promulgated list of “no compromise” issues in 2004, including abortion and cloning (huh?) – a focus on a full-bodied political philosophy of faith bodes well for the American people, and for Barack Obama, who should feel comfortable in that territory. He can put to rest the accusation that he’s a “secret Muslim” – and maybe force McCain to give up that talking point.
Second, by all accounts, Warren wants this to be a different kind of forum, one that poses difficult questions, like, “what is your view of the Constitution?” Unfortunately, politicians have a miraculous ability to turn tough questions into opportunities to spout platitudes. Just ask Mitt Romney. Mitt, what’s wrong with America?
Gosh, golly! Ugh.
Confronted with tough questions, it’ll be interesting to see which candidate turns to the platitudes – “my view is that the Constitution is just great!” – and which decides not to patronize the American people, and instead give a full answer. I have an idea of who will go each way. Using the Constitutional question as an example, I would expect McCain to give a “judicial activism” spiel, and Obama to speak intelligently and accessibly about the Constitution’s role in social change. The former answer keeps the party line happy, but convinces no-one new; the latter could shock voters into realizing that, in many cases, intelligence comes before experience. By giving Barack Obama a chance to lay out his beliefs in excruciating (but listenable) detail, and respond to questions from a moderator and a target audience that remain suspicious of him, this could be a turning point, especially if McCain’s awkwardness when discussing religion shines through. Especially since Obama’s ideas are relatively underexposed, there’s huge potential. Obama has points to score with the religious right & middle America; McCain just has ground to defend.
