McCain's "Evangelical Moment" is Coming in 26 Days
July 21, 2008
A HUGE opportunity to make inroads with Evangelicals is sitting in front of John McCain. It will take place on August 16th when McCain and Barack Obama head to Saddleback Church and talk publicly with the influential and popular Rev. Rick Warren.
Why is this such a huge opportunity and a potential turning point? More on that in a moment but first get up to speed by reading from The New York Times this morning:
It has taken a man of God, perhaps, to do what nobody else has been able to do since the general election season began: Get Barack Obama and John McCain together on the same stage before their party conventions later this summer.
The Rev. Rick Warren has persuaded the candidates to attend a forum at his Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, Calif., on Aug. 16. In an interview, Mr. Warren said over the weekend that the presidential candidates would appear together for a moment but that he would interview them in succession at his megachurch.
The forum still falls short of the kind of face-to-face, town-hall-style debates that Mr. McCain, of Arizona, has called for this summer before formal debates scheduled for this fall.
Mr. Warren, the author of the best-selling book “The Purpose-Driven Life,” said he had called each man personally to invite him to his event, which will focus on how they make decisions and on some of Mr. Warren’s main areas of focus, like AIDS, poverty and the environment.
“I just got to thinking, you know what? These guys have never been together on the same stage, it would be a neat way to cap the primary season before they both go to the conventions and things go dark for a couple of weeks,” he said. “I’ve known both the guys for a long time, they’re both friends of mine, and I knew them before they ran for office, so I just called them up.”
He said that both had readily agreed, perhaps reflecting how each candidate is courting the evangelical audience to whom Mr. Warren ministers.
Mr. Warren’s event will have as a co-sponsor Faith in Public Life, the multidenominational religious group that held the Compassion Forum at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., in April, featuring Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania during their primary fight. Mr. Warren said he would devise his questions with input from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders associated with the group.
“Since I’m their friend, I’m not going to give them any gotcha questions,” Mr. Warren said, adding that a typical query would be, “What’s the most difficult decision you’ve had to make, and how did you make it?”
Mr. Warren said he would have Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama, of Illinois, appear on stage together momentarily at the event, though, he added, he would also “see if they want to get a little personal time behind the scenes.”
Folks, this is John McCain’s “Evangelical moment”. Do you understand the importance of this?
First of all, with Obama there as well, he has a MAJOR opportunity to clearly showcase the differences between the two candidates on social issues. He can talk about the unborn baby and the abortion issue; he can talk about his support for the California Constitutional Marriage Amendment. That’s just to name a few. Even though this conference will center more on poverty, the environment and fighting AIDS, there’s nothing stopping McCain from standing up and talking about the pressing issues of life and marriage as well. It’s McCain’s clearest opportunity yet to paint himself as a “friend” of the Evangelical community.
Evangelicals want a candidate to stand up and talk about the importance of these issues. If John McCain does that forcefully and does not shy away from those topics then he will have built significant “street cred” among Evangelicals and their leaders. This doesn’t have to be a pander. The McCain camp will tell you he cares about these issues. Well, August 16th is the day to showcase it nationally in front of the assembled media and the nation.
If you think about it, it’s really the best of both worlds for McCain. He can chat up climate change and other social justice issues which helps him with moderates and also bring up the life and marriage issues which will endear himself to Evangelicals. Can you imagine this line from John McCain? “While the issues of poverty and climate change are so vitally important, let me also talk about two vitally important issues to me and that is the life of the unborn and the protection of the sanctity of marriage”. Ka-ching! Are you kidding me? That’s the money line folks. Click here to see the reaction by Evangelicals if he delivers that line.
Comments?
THE BRODY FILE Main Page >>
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
