Tweet
Obama was very smooth and cool, as expected. He had a sense of ease, humor, and comfort in the church surroundings. He and Warren had great rapport, two buddies chatting amiably about the issues of the day. Some of his answers, especially on abortion and embryonic stem cell research, will not sit well with Evangelical Christians; he attempted to keep things fuzzy and general, and may have mis-stated a key fact about the number of abortions in recent years.
One of his answers - that marriage should be defined as the union of one man and one woman - will not sit well with his liberal political base. Likewise, some may be uncomfortable with Obama's firm declaration of his strong personal faith in Jesus Christ.
He said he would not have nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, citing a lack of experience and "not being a strong enough legal thinker." He also said his own ideological differences with Justice Scalia would prevent him from nominating a man like Scalia to the Court. And, he said that John Roberts had not protected against the encroachment of the Executive Branch on the other branches. His answers with regard to faith-based organizations made it clear that he would place new restrictions and intepretations on the activities and hiring practices of these organizations, although he claims to be strongly in favor of these organizations.
With regard to the people he admires or would turn to for advice, he mentioned his wife, Michelle, and his grandmother, and then Senator Sam Nunn, Senator Richard Lugar, Senator Ted Kennedy, and Representative Tom Coburn.
Obama discussed what he described as the very difficult decision to oppose the war in Iraq, as well as his "greatest moral failures" relating to his teenage usage of drugs. He said America's greatest moral failure was in not taking better care of "the least of these" among us (quoting from Matthew 25). He addressed these issues thoughtfully and sincerely. At times throughout his segment, Obama seemed to be taking a very scholarly, lawyerly, and measured approach; the post-modern notion of viewing every situation from every possible angle. Sometimes, this came across as a bit vague or unfocused, or even attempting to please and placate all constituencies. Still, he should be happy overall with how he conducted himself
One of his answers - that marriage should be defined as the union of one man and one woman - will not sit well with his liberal political base. Likewise, some may be uncomfortable with Obama's firm declaration of his strong personal faith in Jesus Christ.
He said he would not have nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, citing a lack of experience and "not being a strong enough legal thinker." He also said his own ideological differences with Justice Scalia would prevent him from nominating a man like Scalia to the Court. And, he said that John Roberts had not protected against the encroachment of the Executive Branch on the other branches. His answers with regard to faith-based organizations made it clear that he would place new restrictions and intepretations on the activities and hiring practices of these organizations, although he claims to be strongly in favor of these organizations.
With regard to the people he admires or would turn to for advice, he mentioned his wife, Michelle, and his grandmother, and then Senator Sam Nunn, Senator Richard Lugar, Senator Ted Kennedy, and Representative Tom Coburn.
Obama discussed what he described as the very difficult decision to oppose the war in Iraq, as well as his "greatest moral failures" relating to his teenage usage of drugs. He said America's greatest moral failure was in not taking better care of "the least of these" among us (quoting from Matthew 25). He addressed these issues thoughtfully and sincerely. At times throughout his segment, Obama seemed to be taking a very scholarly, lawyerly, and measured approach; the post-modern notion of viewing every situation from every possible angle. Sometimes, this came across as a bit vague or unfocused, or even attempting to please and placate all constituencies. Still, he should be happy overall with how he conducted himself
Comment