Saddleback Debate

Today I want to discuss the differences of view that the candidates themselves displayed when answering questions during their first debate.

The first question I want to address that was asked is "When does life begin"? This was a question that showed where a candidate stood on the right to life issue. The first person asked was Obama. His reply was he has no answer to that question because it is not his decision to decide that. He was then asked to name one time when he voted against a pro-abortion issue either in the House or the Senate. Again he did not have an answer. Then the question was asked when would he ever object to an abortion being done. His answer was that if the mother's life was at stake during a "Late Term Abortion" he would then question the validity of the procedure.
( A personal sidenote concerning this question. Obama has voted in the past to legalize the policy of Post-Birth abortion. This means that if a baby was supposed to be aborted in a late term abortion but it was born before the procedure was done, then that baby would be allowed to be discarded and die)

Now McCain's answer. He immediately answered that life begins at conception. When asked about his history and policies. He answered that he has a 25 year pro-life voting history and if elected President, his policies and Presidency would reflect his pro-life stance.

The next question is "Define marriage". Obama answered that a marriage is between a man and a woman. He was then asked if he would support a constitutional amendment to make marriage a man-woman event and no other. His response was he would not support such an amendment, then went on to say that he support same sex unions.

McCain's answer. A marriage is between one man and one woman. When asked about the Constitutional amendment, he said he would not support one to the extent that the rights of the states continued to be allowed to determine the issue for individual states. IF at any time a Federal Court mandated same sex marriage be recognized throughout the country, then he would support a Constitutional Amendment to ensure that marriage remained between one man and one woman.

Next, Obama was asked if evil existed and if so can it or should it be destroyed. His answer, evil does exist and that evil has been committed in the name of good. He went on to say that we have committed great evil in the name of good. He did say that evil should be destroyed but did not comment on the could it be destroyed part of the question. (Sidenote- When he was saying we in the answer, I read that as if he feels the United States has committed great evil, referring to the war in Iraq that he has opposed since the beginning.

McCain's answer. Evil does exist and people everywhere have a responsibility to destroy evil wherever they encounter it. He went on to say that eliminating evil would not be an easy chore nor does he know if it could ever be completely defeated, but to do nothing was not an option.

Next, Obama was asked if he could have voted for the Supreme Court Justices, which ones would he not have appointed. This was answer along party lines, he named three that he would not have appointed because their views directly oppose his.

McCain's answer, He too answered along party lines, saying their were four judges he would not have appointed because they have taken from interpreting the law to instituting law. He went on to say he would appoint judges that were more in line with the constitution and would interpret the constitution, not try and rewrite it.

Next- Obama was asked to define Rich. He defined rich as anyone who makes over $250,000.00 a year. These would be the people who he would look to for the raise in taxes to pay for all the programs and initiatives he has proposed. Obama went on to say that this type of taxation would be "balanced and fair".

McCain's answer, He does not have a definition for how much is rich, he went on to say that one should not be punished because they are successful, he stated that he would not raise taxes but try and lower them because anyone who has studied economics knows that in a down economy, you lower taxes to put more money back into the consumers hands so that they can then go out and spend to stimulate the economy. (sidenote, this was the same theory with the tax rebates that President Bush recently did, and it worked).

Next, Obama was asked what was his worst 'Moral Failure" and what in his view is the county's worst moral failure. He answered his worst moral failure was that he was too selfish as a youngster, that he did not give more thought to what his parents were going through. He went on to quote Matthew, in the bible. The quote was and I am paraphrasing here " Those who help the least of us, helps me. Referring to god in the bible. His meaning was that the country's worst moral failure was that we do not do enough to help our fellow man. (sidenote- I have heard enough of Obama's speeches to know what he really means when quoting that verse of Matthew. He means that if you make more that someone else, you should be required to give that other person a part of yours so that everyone is equal. I not a biblical scholar, but I am a thinker. I believe that that verse was meant to inspire people to help one another out of love for one another, not out of government force or policy. Just saying)

I will add some more questions later. I just wanted to get some of these out here so people can see the stark differences between the two.

As always, I look forward to your responses. Earl