The fact that Barack Obama would show up at an Evangelical Church and take the tough questions is a credit to him. I mean he knew he was the visiting team so to speak yet he handled these questions like he has in the past: with relative ease.

 

The one answer that he struggled with a little bit was when Rick Warren asked him: ““At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?” He basically punted the answer by saying, “Well, I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective answering that question with specificity you know is above my pay grade.” That’s not the answer conservative Evangelicals wanted to hear and I’m sure he didn’t score any points with pro-life Catholics either. But look, the guy is pro-choice so did anybody really expect him to answer it with a fervent “at conception” answer? He was kind of stuck and it showed. But let’s remember for many others in the faith community who aren’t as conservative an answer like that may have been just fine. Obama’s main focus is not to win over the die hard conservative Evangelicals. He’s trying to appeal to the broader faith community and the latest polling shows he’s doing a pretty god job of it.

 

Overall the night was a success for Obama. He didn’t get put on the spot too much with the abortion questions. He handled the “Jesus” question about his faith with ease and maybe most important he looked comfortable up there.

 

His answers were nuanced quite a bit unlike McCain’s quick direct answers. That was a big difference between the two of them. Obama sees more shades of gray. McCain sees the World a lot more black and white. That was on clear display.

 

By watching Obama and McCain go back to back tonight, I think it offered a stark contrast on how they both approach the hot button social issues. But Obama has very little chance with die-hard pro-lifers anyway. Instead, Obama’s goal is to come across as a caring family man who takes his faith and set of values very seriously. That plays to the broader audience. A forum like this only helps him in that regard.

 

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