Best selling author and pastor Rick Warren's attempt at a civil forum between the two presidential candidates was a miserable failure for one very important reason - the fight was unfair. If I was Obama's manager and this forum was a boxing match, I would have thrown in the towel and cried out to the referee for mercy when McCain began to answer questions. By McCain's third verbal punch, as Obama's manager I would have yelled out, "Stop the fight!" Below is a excerpt of the CNN Forum.



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When asked about his position on abortion, Obama claimed that the answer to when life begins is "above his pay grade." What in the world did that mean? Since when is the single issue dividing this nation above the pay grade of the president of the United States? In contrast, McCain said "life begins at conception." Period and exclamation point. What? A politician who actually answers the question? On closer examination, Obama did answer the question in the context of another question: "Which Supreme Court justice would you NOT have nominated?" It was a brilliant question because the answers of the candidates clearly revealed the stark ideological divide between two men.

Obama said he would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. Hmmmmm. The most conservative of all the justices would not be the pick of unarguably the most liberal senator in the U.S. congress. But carefully consider WHY he would not have picked Thomas. Obama would not have selected Thomas because in Obama's opinion Thomas lacked EXPERIENCE necessary for the job. Are you kidding me? Senator Obama, what about your lack of experience for running our country? What EXPERIENCE do you bring to the presidency? You have never run a company. You have never held an executive office. And, you have been in the senate for a whole TWO YEARS with one of those years being spent on the campaign trail. There is something really wrong with this picture. Judge yourself by the same statements and you disqualify yourself from the highest office of our land.

In contrast, McCain said he would never have nominated Justices Ginsberg, Stevens, Breyer, and Souter. His reasons? All of these justices have proven to be the enemies of strict constitutional interpretation. In other words, rather than interpreting the constitution, all of them legislate from the bench.

In my opinion, this is one of the most critical issues of this election since the next president will likely nominate two justices when mercifully two of the more liberal ones retire. The abortion question will finally be answered in the Supreme Court and the state courts. The ideology between the two men was a clear as we can get. Their worldviews could not be more different. Their worldviews will determine their choice of Supreme Court justices. If you are a liberal, then vote for Obama. If you are not, then vote for McCain.

Before this debate even started I already knew that Obama was not my choice due to his ideology, philosophy of government, theology, and especially his judicial intent. Conservatives need to grow up. For evangelical leaders to imply they will stay home and not vote is the wrong message. No one is more pro-life than I am. Yet, the protection of the most vulnerable of our citizens, babies in the womb, will be decided in the courts. The civil forum has shown us clearly where each candidate stands. The choice could not be any clearer. If you are pro abortion, then vote for Obama. If you are pro life, then vote for McCain.

In His Grip,
PB