One of the more interesting threads post-Saddleback has to do with this Warren question about the faith-based initiative program:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that faith-based organizations have a right to hire people who believe like they do. Would you insist that faith-based organizations forfeit that right to access federal funds?J. Brent Walker points out that the question's awfully biased in its wording. Barry Lynn, writing on his cool new BeliefNet blog he shares w/ Jay Sekulow, agrees and points to additional examples of bias in Warren's questions. (Of course, Lynn also opposed the Saddleback thing generally, on principle.)
Elsewhere, Jim Towey thinks Obama's position on the faith-based thing--BO wants to expand it but enforce fair hiring restrictions--is triangulation/double speak/whatever. Don Byrd takes Towey down concisely and effectively.
I thought it was interesting. I wasn't sure what to expect from McCain, or how the crowd would respond, but he benefited from the fact that the forum wasn't so much about faith. I was disappointed by the lack of questions about how their faith influences their policy, etc. Nonetheless, I appreciated hearing their answers to the questions.
ReplyDeletePeople seemed to respond well to Obama, who gave typically Democratic debate answers, in that they were thoughtful, nuanced responses to complex questions. But they went nuts for McCain, who mostly didn't attempt to actually answer (or explain his answer to) the questions. It was like watching someone transform into pandering bullet points, down to every last calculated detail. But it's evidence that most voters prefer concise, black-and-white soundbites. Obama handlers are no doubt trying to direct him toward the same bullet point, pandering mold for the debates.