Showdown At Saddleback! UPDATE: Almost A Big Slip By Obama

I have to confess, I really had no clue who Rick Warren was before this but apparently he's big enough to get McCain and Obama to show up at his church for what amounts to the last pre-season game before the real election season kicks off with the conventions.

One really interesting thing to consider...this is one way Obama is different than your traditional ultra-liberal Democrat. Can anyone imagine John Kerry doing this four years ago? Whether or not he can actually carry a lot of Christian/'values voters' is to be seen but he's clearly going to give it a shot in a way Democrats haven't since Jimmy Carter.

The candidates will be questioned by Warren separately for about an hour. Obama is up first and all 3 cable news networks plan coverage starting at 8 eastern.

Enjoy.

UPDATE:

Total absolute awesomeness...

Warren: Which sitting Supreme Court Justice wouldn't you have nominated?

Obama: Clarance Thomas. "I don't think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time".

He camethisclose to saying Thomas wasn't experienced enough. He actually swallowed the words 'an experienced jurist' but he stopped at "an exper..." and changed it to 'a strong enough'.

That was almost a lethal commercial in the making. Nice save Obambi.

UPDATE x1.5 Alllah has the video....soooooo close.

UPDATE X2:

Fifteen Nearly forty minutes in...McCain is kicking Obama's ass. You'd think this friendly, personality setup would favor Obama but it's not.

I don't agree with McCain on a lot of things but compared to Obama he's simply filled with substance. I don't mean on policy prescriptions (though McCain is stronger there) but just on being a man. McCain has lived, he's succeed, he's failed and he just come off as someone who knows himself and the world he lives in.

UPDATE x3:

The Weekly Standard Blog catches Captain Bullshit...well, bullshitting.

If this were a fight it would have been a knockout for McCain.

Final thought...

McCain big time. I think my position on McCain is well cataloged on this blog (I'm not thrilled to put it mildly) but even I was impressed. Yeah there were no immigration or global warming questions tonight and the luster will likely wear off from this performance in time but he did nothing but help himself tonight.

The interesting thing about this format is they were asked the same questions. It will make for some interesting comparison ads. I imagine they are being cut at this moment.

If I were Obama and his people, I'd be trying to figure out how to get out of the debates. The two of them just aren't in the same league.

posted by DrewM. at 07:50 PM

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