By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers
IRVINE, Calif. — Tom Christian is the kind of religious voter that John McCain and Barack Obama were courting when they went to church this weekend. Conservative. Republican. But open to either of them.
If his reaction after watching them this weekend is any indication, Obama impressed people with his ease talking the language of faith, no small feat for a Democrat. But McCain may have shored up support from this critical group.
"When I hear Obama, I think, yeah. McCain comes across as a grouchy old man. But the contrast on the issues eventually becomes clear," Christian said after watching the two candidates speak at his evangelical church, the Saddleback church in his hometown of Lake Forest.
"Obama always makes a better impression," Christian said. "But McCain was clear, on issues like life. He said life begins at conception. That's my position. He believes what I believe. ... I like Obama. But I'll be voting for McCain."
That kind of reaction could make a big difference for McCain, who has been struggling to win the kind of record support from this key voting bloc that helped fellow Republican George W. Bush eke out a close re-election battle in 2004.
more I just saw CBN's David Brody proclaim McCain the winner of tonight's joint appearance at Saddleback Church, saying (essentially) that McCain hit it out of the park. I didn't think McCain did as well as Brody did--a lot of his answers sounded pretty stilted and canned, like obviously recycled stump shtick. But, even if you did think McCain was objectively better than Obama, that's the wrong way to think about winners and losers in a forum like this. You've got to grade on the curve.
The audience, after all, was primarily evangelical Christians--a group among whom McCain leads by better than 2 to 1, according to recent polls. That means that if McCain did any worse than twice as well as Obama, it counts as a win for Obama. And, from where I sit, McCain didn't come close to doing twice as well. My sense is that Obama struck a lot of previously skeptical evangelicals as a reasonable and God-fearing man (a real achievement given that so many of the questions touched on issues that favor Republicans among these voters--abortion, judges, stem cell research, etc.). That's a big improvement in light of where Obama started.
Advantage Obama.
McCain went strong after the fundie vote and in turn boxed himself into a corner (in more ways than one).
The evangelicals liked McCain's stance, but even they
acknowledge the corner he's in:
However, Bishop Jackson noted that if McCain chooses a pro-choice vice president, evangelicals may support Obama. “I think the distinction that we heard tonight was clear, was decisive, was effective. That would be muddied if he mixes the ticket in some way and gets somebody who could become the President – in the event that something terrible would happen to McCain – who would go contrary to the clarity, the focus, and the energy with which McCain came forth tonight.”
Posted August 17, 2008 11:40 AM
by Mark Silva
John McCain promises a "pro-life'' presidency - he said so at the Saddleback Church in California last night.
So there's no way McCain can pick a "pro-choice'' running mate, such as former Pennsylvania Gov. Tim Ridge. Right?
Maybe.
"My friend of 25 years is passionately pro-life,'' Ridge said on FOX News Sunday this morning. "He is also passionately a believer that the Republican Party must have a big tent.
" And I think, frankly, what he was just saying to the rest of the world is that we need to accept both points of view,'' Ridge told FOX's Chris Wallace today.
"He's not judgmental about me or my belief,'' said Ridge, who also served as the first Homeland Security secretary under President Bush and, like McCain, is a decorated war veteran - and popular in a state where Democrat Barack Obama apparently holds a narrow advantage over McCain. "He just disagrees with me. And there's no doubt in my mind, no doubt whatsoever, that there would be -- he would have a strong pro-life administration. No question about it."
Now, picking a running mate for such political considerations as Pennsylvania's electoral votes would be - as Republican strategist Karl Rove has suggested of Obama tapping someone such as Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, former mayor of the 103rd largest city (Richmond) - well, political.
So the pick will be made on principle, right?
Based on the fundie position, it can't be Lieberman either. If McCain picks a pro-life VP how many people will be turned off by that?
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