Sure, tonight’s Compassion Forum in at Messiah College featuring Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is being sponsored by a progressive group, Faith in Public Life. But the group says John McCain’s decision not to participate is not for lack its of trying. “Our allies had conversations at the highest levels of the McCain campaign,” says Katie Barge, Faith in Public Life’s director of communications strategy. “We had received an initially positive response.”
“We’re not holding a grudge at all—we are still hopefully that [McCain] actually comes and are keeping lines of communication open with the McCain campaign,” Barge said in an interview late last week. “I will take them at their word that there’s a scheduling conflict.”
God-o-Meter, for its part, is more dubious. Given McCain’s troubles with evangelicals over both his positions and his reticence about discussing his own faith, wouldn’t this forum give him the chance to open up about his faith before an audience that’s less hostile than his party’s own base?
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posted April 13, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Is it not strange that the Republican candidate is running from openness of Faith and the Democrats are embracing it? How things have changed over the last year. As a Social Christian, I welcome this and have longed to have the debate of the role of Christian works be played out in our country as part of our heritage. No more the elitist conservative, self-serving attitude that has plagued our nation for the last two decades.
posted April 13, 2008 at 2:57 pm
McCain is not going because he knows that his voters aren’t going to be watching.
posted April 13, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Hi!
Without taking into account the issue of establishing a stone by God, which he won’t be able to pick up, how do you think, may be something in this world, what can God never see?
posted April 13, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Charles,
When you say “McCain is not going because he knows that his voters aren’t going to be watching” I don’t quite get you. Do you mean that religious voters who’d tune in tongight’s forum on CNN aren’t part of his constituency? Or that religious conservatives who might support a Republican like McCain wouldn’t tune in because you think the forum is geared toward liberals?
posted April 13, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Senator John McCain is not running from the openness of faith by not participating in the Compassion Forum tonight broadcast on CNN. His campaign did say that he had a scheduling conflict. I take them at their word. Where’s your compassion for him and his busy campaign schedule?
I’m sure that John McCain will participate in a similar forum/dialogue about compassion/faith in the Presidential campaign at some point during the general election campaign. I hope and pray that it’s a Compassion Forum that’s conducted in a fair and balanced manner.
posted April 14, 2008 at 9:24 am
Turns out McCain wouldn’t have risked anything in attending. The night was full of religious softballs….http://tiny.cc/42xRB
posted April 14, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Clinton and Obama carefully answered the questions and the response from the floor was kind and friendly. If McCain had made the effort to come, I would have listened to him as well but his “Conflict” was more important than reaching out to the World of Faith that in NOT Conservative and Dogmatic, Legalistic or Vengeful.
posted April 15, 2008 at 11:42 am
“Where’s McCain?” is the wrong question to be asking. It should be”WHY is this event even happening in a country that “promises” (well, USED to promise) that there shall be NO religious tests to hold public office?”
What a sham you all have made of your “Constitution”.
posted April 21, 2008 at 5:22 pm
A shame. McCain’s answer should have been “My religion is my own personal business, and I won’t be trotting it out in front of the voters. I am running for President, not for Pope.”