Liveblogging McCain at Saddleback

I like Warren's question about the candidate's greatest moral failing, and America's. McCain did a pretty good job with it. When he said, "The failure of my first marriage is my greatest moral failure," there was a real moment of sadness and humanity that passed over his face. I appreciate that he didn't elaborate. He identified America's greatest moral failure as a failure to live for a cause greater than ourselves. OK, but what does that mean? He took a good shot at Bush for telling Americans to go shopping after 9/11.

UPDATE.2 "What's the toughest decision you ever made, and how did you make it?" Warren asked. McCain hit it out of the park on this one -- he talked about the decision he had to make in prison camp in Vietnam to refuse early release in order to honor the Code of Conduct. The North Vietnamese offered to let him go early, because his father was an admiral. McCain chose to turn down the offer, because to have skipped the line ahead of POWs who were held longer than he had been would have been dishonorable. McCain really did do this -- I once met and talked to Ev Alvarez, the POW who should have been the first to leave, and whom McCain honored by refusing to take his place. It's really something to be in the presence of these POWs. Anyway, it was a great answer.

On the "what have you changed your mind about?" question, he had a politically effective answer: "Offshore drilling." But he's off to the races campaigning now. McCain looks surprisingly lithe tonight, and actually more appealing, a bit, than Obama.

UPDATE.3: McCain brought out his familiar story about the POW camp guard who drew the cross in the dirt on Christmas day, and told the tale movingly. Anytime McCain can talk about Vietnam is a winner for him. This was the high point so far of what has been a very good night for him.

The abortion question -- "When does life begin?" McCain did not waver one bit: "At conception." Period. None of Obama's "beyond my pay grade" weasel words. I find that admirable. I wish Warren would press him on how he can be in favor of ESCR if he believes life begins at conception, because that's a contradiction. But Warren didn't.

On the question of how to deal with evil, McCain was equally decisive: "Defeat it." He went on to talk about how we're going to defeat evil. Good political line, but Obama's answer was more intelligent. It's driving me crazy how Warren is not following up on any of this. Warren should have asked him about the evil that the US has done -- the torture, for example -- in trying to fight evil. But as we've seen, Warren is not a good interviewer.

UPDATE.4 I wish McCain would stop saying "my friends." It's an annoying tic.

It's cheeky of McCain to dump on Congress for not sticking around to deal more forcefully with energy issues during an energy crisis when he has a deplorable record of missing key energy votes.

UPDATE.5 Good question from Warren re: war -- "What's worth dying for?" McCain said, "Freedom," then launched into the kind of national-security cant that would make Dr. Bacevich's head turn around.

"Our obligation is to stop genocide wherever we can," says McCain. Really? What does that mean?

On Russia's invasion of Georgia, McCain repeated his line, "It [Georgia] was one of the earliest Christian nations." Total and shameless pandering to Evangelicals. As if Russia isn't a Christian nation. As if Russia hasn't been Christian for over a thousand years. As if Christianity had anything to do with this conflict.

UPDATE.6 McCain said that when he goes to visit with African-Americans, he knows they're probably not going to vote for him, but he wants them to know that "I'll be the president of every American, and I'll always put my country first." That was a great answer. McCain had a pretty great night, I'd say.