Regarding Saturday's Candidates Forum

Some random thoughts regarding Pastor Rick Warren's candidates forum last Saturday evening.

One, I was a bit surprised at first by the applause Barack Obama received following some of his answers, particularly when he said he would not nominate someone like Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.

I had assumed those attending would be members of Saddleback Church, one of the largest evangelical churches in the country. It seems obvious now that many of Obama's supporters paid the admission fee to attend and encourage their candidate.

Two, I was pleasantly surprised to see the positive coverage Rick Warren and his church received for the event. It was well-deserved. Warren did a masterful job of organizing the forum, asking the questions and keeping the event rolling, without becoming the focus of attention himself.

Some of the good press Warren has received, however, over the last couple of year may wane in the coming days. It could be that reporters for the major networks have perceived Warren to have some level of support or at least a high level of tolerance for Democrat candidates, including Obama. But now that John McCain is perceived to have been the clear winner of Saturday's event, those reporters may not be as friendly towards Warren.

An indication of that is found in Reverend Barry Lynn's blog debate with American Center for Law Justice chief counsel, Jay Sekulow, on Beliefnet.com.

Lynn writes, "This crowd was swarming toward McCain to begin with, and Rick Warren has quite conservative views on plenty of hot button issues. But Warren is still a man best known for his homey advice about putting God first (not a very controversial notion for a Christian), so many viewers probably thought he would play "fair and balanced."

Well, Jay, he did not. He was clearly well-schooled on how to set up questions with well-tested right-wing talking points, so that Obama would have had to spend a great deal of time just correcting the questioner. (You and I understand that technique well, both as talk show guests and hosts of our own shows)." Pastor Warren may begin to feel the kind of stinging criticism that previous evangelical leaders have experienced over the years when they've gotten involved in politics.