Among the points they made:
-Their greatest moral failure.
“The failure of my first marriage,” said McCain. “It’s my greatest moral failure.”
Obama said he experimented with drugs and drank during a “difficult” youth when his father had left and he himself was overly selfish. “I couldn’t focus on other people,” he said.
-Most gut-wrenching decision
McCain said it was when he refused early release from a North Vietnamese prison camp because it would have put him ahead of fellow American prisoners in violation of their code of conduct. “It took a lot of prayer,” he said.
Obama said it was opposing the war in Iraq at a time it was politically risky and he believed that Saddam Hussein did mean to harm the United States. However, he said he did not believe that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
-On the meaning of their own Christianity
“It means I’m saved and forgiven,” said McCain.
He told how his faith sustained him while a prisoner of war in Vietnam, telling how one of his captors treated him humanely and once secretly drew a cross in the dirt to signal his own faith. “It was just two Christians worshipping together,” he said.
“It means I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that I am redeemed through him,” said Obama. “That is a source of strength and sustenance. ... I know that I don’t walk alone.”
He said that influences his belief that people should think about helping the needy.
-The three wisest people they would consult as president
McCain listed Gen. David Petreaus, the architect of the surge strategy in Iraq; Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a veteran of the civil rights movement; and Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay, who created more than a million jobs.
Obama named two, his wife and grandmother. He also said he would consult bipartisan sources such as former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn and Republican Sen. Richard Lugar.
-Supreme Court justices they would not have nominated
McCain named Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens.
Obama said he would not have appointed Clarence Thomas because he wasn’t smart enough or Antonin Scalia because he disagreed with him.
-On sending troops to stop genocide
“Our obligation is to stop genocide wherever we can,” McCain said. He added that the United States can provide material and support, not just troops.
“I don’t think there is a hard and fast line at which you say we are going in. It is always a judgment call,” Obama said. “If we have it within our power to prevent mass killing and genocide and we can work in concert with the international community to prevent it, then we should act.”
-On when a child secures human rights
“At the moment of conception,” McCain said. “I have a 25-year pro-life record. ... I will be a pro-life president.”
“Answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade,” Obama said.
He said he supports limits on late-term abortions if there is an exception for the health of the mother. But ultimately, he said, he supports abortion rights. “I am pro choice,” he said.
-On marriage
McCain said marriage should be between a man and a woman. He said he’d leave it to the states to regulate, but that he would support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage if a federal judge ordered all states to recognize one state’s gay marriages.
Obama also said he believes marriage is between a man and a woman. But he said he would not support a constitutional amendment to define marriage that way, saying that marriage historically is left to the states to define.
For more on the church, go to www.RickWarrenNews.com.
Thanks for the summary. So, what would you say was the final score?
I didnt get to watch it- i went to watch brett favre’s debut with the jets instead (free tickets and all that).
“-The three wisest people they would consult as president” ~ TornadoAlley3
Yes. bttt One of the questions Rick Warren asked the candidates was:
[Who are] The three wisest people they would consult as president?
Obama named two, his wife and grandmother. He also said he would consult bipartisan sources such as former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn and Republican Sen. Richard Lugar. http://www.RickWarrenNews.com./
Notice below who Obamamessiah named in 2004 - he didn’t name ANY of those people above - he named the race-bating, America-damning hate-mongers in his church as the ones he looks to for guidance. Now he’s tap-dancing as far and fast as he can away from those “close friends”. What a phony!
2004 interview excerpts:
Barack Obama: The 2004 “God Factor” Interview Transcript
http://falsani.blogspot.com/2008/04/barack-obama-2004-god-factor-interview.html
GG:
Do you have people in your life that you look to for guidance?
OBAMA:
Well, my pastor is certainly someone who I have an enormous amount of respect for.
I have a number of friends who are ministers. Reverend Meeks is a close friend and colleague of mine in the state Senate. Father Michael Pfleger is a dear friend, and somebody I interact with closely.
GG:
Those two will keep you on your toes.
OBAMA:
And theyr’e good friends. Because both of them are in the public eye, there are ways we can all reflect on what’s happening to each of us in ways that are useful.
I think they can help me, they can appreciate certain specific challenges that I go through as a public figure.
GG:
Do you still attend Trinity?
OBAMA:
Yep. Every week. 11 oclock service. ..
GG:
Do you believe in sin?
OBAMA:
Yes.
GG:
What is sin?
OBAMA:
Being out of alignment with my values.
GG:
What happens if you have sin in your life?
OBAMA:
I think it’s the same thing as the question about heaven. In the same way that if I’m true to myself and my faith that that is its own reward, when I’m not true to it, it’s its own punishment.
GG:
Where do you find spiritual inspiration? Music, nature, literature, people, a conduit you plug into?
OBAMA:
There are so many.
Nothing is more powerful than the black church experience. A good choir and a good sermon in the black church, it’s pretty hard not to be move and be transported. ..
GG:
Is there something that you go back to as a touchstone, a book, a particular piece of music, a place ...
OBAMA:
As I said before, in my own sort of mental library, the Civil Rights movement has a powerful hold on me. IT’s a point in time where I think heaven and earth meet. ..
GG:
Do you ever have people who know you’re a Christian question a particular stance you take on an issue, how can you be a Christian and …
OBAMA:
Like the right to choose.
I haven’t been challenged in those direct ways. And to that extent, I give the public a lot of credit. I’m always stuck by how much common sense the American people have. They get confused sometimes, watch FoxNews or listen to talk radio. That’s dangerous sometimes.
But generally, Americans are tolerant and I think recognize that faith is a personal thing, and they may feel very strongly about an issue like abortion or gay marriage, but if they discuss it with me as an elected official they will discuss it with me in those terms and not, say, as ‘you call yourself a Christian.’ I cannot recall that ever happening. ... [...]
*
Cal Thomas comments on the above-excerpted interview:
June 16, 2008 9:25:34
OBAMA IS NO JOSHUA By Cal Thomas
http://www.calthomas.com/index.php?news=2288