Hopefully, most of you, if not all of you have had an opportunity to attend in person, watch the live telecast, see one of the many rebroadcasts, or read one of the multitudes of news articles about the event held at Saddleback Church, located in Lake Forest, California this past Saturday, August 16th. I was one of the many hundred of media that were issued press credentials and thus had an opportunity to view the event and to interview the candidates’ surrogates since the candidates, themselves, were not available for interviews.
Prior to attending the event, like so many of us, I had several preconceptions of both candidates and how they would acquit themselves. Afterwards I found several of these preconceptions dashed and found myself more inclined to support one candidate over the other. Neither candidate was my candidate of choice, since the two candidates I had favored going into the primary have since fallen by the wayside and suspended their campaigns and end their fight for their party’s nomination.
Pastor Rick Warren, the Founder and Pastor of Saddleback Church, had developed and implemented a series of civil forums. Through these forums it’s his hope that polite discourse would replace the often-angry discourse, which seems to plague so many of our meetings these days. Pastor Warren worked diligently to ensure that the forum was and would remain “apolitical” as possible — a feat in and of itself considering that the two speakers were both the presumptive nominees of their respective parties in the race for the highest political office in our Country. I was skeptical that he could achieve his stated goal, but I think that he accomplished his goals, and the “politicking” was left to the hundreds of protestors that flanked the four corners that marked the church campus’ entrance. Needless to say law enforcement was out in force and several demonstrators were arrested, a small number when you consider that hundreds of passionate individuals gathered outside.
Both candidates were asked the identical questions that touched on four overarching themes, and there were additional questions that followed that were structured to help further “clarify” a candidates’ response. The four overarching themes (as provided by Saddleback Church to the media) were: Stewardship (questions on the Constitution, role of government, security, education, and energy); Leadership (questions on personal character, competence, convictions, and experience to be President); Worldview (questions on life, family, evil, freedom, Christianity, and Islam); and America’s Role in the World (questions on going to war, on America’s responsibility to bless other nations, poverty, and disease, human rights, religious liberty, corruption, and their vision for America). The order in which the candidates got to speak was decided in the tried and true objective method that so many of us are familiar with – the flip of a coin; and Senator Obama won the toss which meant Senator McCain spoke second and got to be sequestered in a separate room so he would not have an added advantage of knowing how the previous speaker answered. Each candidate enjoyed an hour of being questioned by Pastor Warren in a casual setting, as well as casual of a setting as one can have in a mega church being watched by thousands sitting in the pews, and untold numbers watching and dissecting your every word as they watched the live broadcasts on their televisions at home.
During the two-hour event little of the discussion focused on specifics such as healthcare and labor with both candidates sticking more to generalized answers. What surprised me the most was what I felt Senator Obama’s parsing and nuanced responses to Pastor Warren’s questions, while Senator McCain seemed at ease and very comfortable in his own skin. I comment on this because I had expected the reverse from my past “viewing experiences”. I have always found Senator Obama to appear composed and relaxed before the camera and in front of large groups while Senator McCain had always seemed to perform better in smaller and more intimate settings.
There were two responses that struck home with me the first was the very long and thoughtful response given by Senator Obama regarding his pro-choice position in relationship to his Christian beliefs. He also mentioned his position on late-term abortion, but failed to discuss his actions while in the State Senate that lead to the failure of a bill that would address the issue of pre-term infants that were born alive after a late-term abortion (www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081209.html). This is an issue that I know is of importance to many Americans and of course nurses grapple with this issue often in both their personal and professional lives. He reiterated his support of a woman’s choice and announced his unequivocal support of Roe v. Wade.
McCain used the topic of civil rights to go one step further and address the issue of a card check bill (also known as the Employee Free Choice Act). He emphasized his belief in the strength of the secret ballot and its role in providing an environment “safe” from influence for the decision maker. He drew the comparison that a card check bill, in his opinion, goes against the right of people to make their choice through a secret ballot and that employer and union alike should not try to abrogate the employee’s right to a secret ballot.
All in all it was a rare opportunity, I think, for people to see these two presumptive party nominees away from their “handlers” and spin-doctors. Due to the efforts of the Saddleback Church team an almost flawless effort they were able to keep the venue itself a “political-free zone”, going so far as to request all attendees (media included) refrain from wearing, carrying or using any political propaganda. Most, with the exception of a reporter who left his Obama ’08 screensaver on (Mr. Griffith, a reporter from C-Span – see picture
So much for press journalist staying "neutral" while covering a political campaign
) honored this request. Interestingly enough this was the same fellow that chose not to stand when the National Anthem was played, so I wonder how he rationalized (though I can understand not singing along since perhaps he didn’t know the words or had one of those voices that only a mother can love) not standing and showing respect, but felt no compunction at violating the “ban” on no political propaganda. However, one could argue that as a journalist covering a political event he should have made at least some attempt to portray a position of neutrality.
Luckily most of the public left their posters, hats and other propaganda in their cars allowing the event to remaining somewhat free of political spin. I don’t remember hearing any boos, raspberries or disparaging remarks from the audience in response to comments made by either candidate that, I think, this was left to the postmortem provided by the pundits and party spin-doctors.
The members of the various media that I shared Tent 1 with provided the most humorous moment for me; when various members of the press took time out to interview one another on their impressions of the forum and to take pictures of one another. Proving once again that members of the press are people too.
If you still find yourself in need of more information about these two candidates and their positions you may want to contact your local Democratic or Republican party office, or the campaign offices of Senator McCain (http://www.johnmccain.com/) or Senator Obama (http://www.barackobama.com/index.php). Of course don’t forget you can always watch the conventions, which are usually televised on both local as well as cable TV. Both CNN and Fox News plan in-depth coverage of the two parties; first the Democratic National Convention in Denver which will be held from August 25th through August 28th and then the Republican National Convention which will be held in Minneapolis-St. Paul from September 1st – September 4th.
Of course the Saddleback Church Forum only highlighted two of the six announced presidential candidates. The other presidential candidates are (in no particular order) the US Taxpayers Party candidate is Charles O. Baldwin (http://www.baldwin08.com/), Libertarian Party candidate is Robert Barr (http://www.bobbarr2008.com/splash/?s0618), Green Party, Peace and Freedom Party candidate is Cynthia Ann McKinney (https://mckinney2008.com/PRESIDENT/index.php), and Independent, Natural Law Party candidate is Ralph Nader (http://www.votenader.org).
However at the end of the day please remember to be an informed voter and don’t forget to vote!
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