Obama’s worldview

By Jennifer J. Foster

This is where the wheat is separated from the chaff in this interview. This is what will separate this interview from any other these candidates have done.

What does it mean to be a Christian? Obama describes what his Christianity means to him: “I know that I do not walk alone.“ Obligation to embrace not just words, but through deeds, the expectations God has for us, thinking about the least of these, acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God. “If I can get myself out of the way,“

Abortion: At what point does a baby get human rights in your view? Answering the question philosophically or theologically is above my pay grade, Obama says, completely dodging the question and insisting on speaking about the issue “generally.“ Obama repeats what he’s said before about this, that there is a moral component to the issue. Warren asks a question to which he already knows the answer—has Obama ever voted to restrict abortion, which he has not—and Obama says he believes in restrictions on late-term abortion but only if they allow for exceptions for the mother’s health. Warren’s next questions should be whether Obama would support the Democrats for Life’s 95-10 Initiative. It seems to address most, if not all, of the things Obama has talked about vis-à-vis decreasing the number of abortions. This is what’s missing in typical debates and interviews with politicians: The next question, following the familiar sound bite, that forces the candidate to animate—to give life, credibility, to—the sound bite. It makes a difference, because that’s how you determine whether the sound bite is real policy or just another seasonal statement.

Marriage: “For me, marriage is between a man and a woman,“ to applause. But he wouldn’t support the constitutional amendment designating it as so, because we haven’t historically done that, he says. I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage, but I do believe in civil unions., he says; Obama is all over the map on this. It’s like abortion: Either he believes something personally, or he doesn’t. The only other option is that his personal opinions aren’t worth defending.

Stem-cells: Do we still need federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research with the recent discovery of adult stem cell capabilities? “In a careful way, go ahead and pursue that research”? In a careful way? What does that mean? “Avoid moral arguments?“ What does that mean? He talks about the perspective with which scientists approach this issue; again, he seems to believe one thing under one circumstance, and another thing under other circumstances.

Does evil exist, and if so, what should be do about it? Yes, we see it all the time, Obama says, listing Darfur,  the streets of our cities and abusive parents as examples. I think it has to be confronted squarely, I strongly believe that we are not going to as individuals be able to erase evil from the world, that is God’s task, but we can be soldeirs in that process. We can confront it when we see it. The one thing that I think is very important is for us to have some humility when confronting evil; a lot of evil has been perpetrated ... in the name of good. Just because we think our intentions are good, doesn’t mean we are necessarily going to do good.

Obama’s gut-wrenching decision

By Jennifer J. Foster

Obama says it was the decision he made not to vote for the war in Iraq.

This is a good issue for Obama. Morally speaking, it can never be easy to vote for war, but there can be an argument made that it is even harder to vote against it when you know the cause has merit—as Obama noted when he said there was no doubt Saddam Hussein meant America ill.

He covered other angles of the issue—not only the philosophical vote, but also the nuts and bolts of what going to war would mean—things like whether the soliders would be properly equipped, whether their tours of duty would be reasonable, etc. These are things he said contributed to the difficulty of the war vote.

The question was in the bag with the issue, though; going to war, or not going to war, always has to be the toughest decision any politician makes.

Obama’s flip-flop

By Jennifer J. Foster

Warren says flip-flopping isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since sometimes it’s due to having information that you didn’t have when you initially drew your opinion.

As true as that is, it doesn’t play nicely on mailers.

Obama talks about welfare reform, and he earns double points for saying the centerpiece of welfare reform should be work.

Swing voters, anyone?

Partisanship and Obama

By Jennifer J. Foster

Asked for an issue on which he’s broken with his party or taken a position that’s not in his personal best interest, Obama talks about campaign finance and ethics reform—something he mentioned he worked on with John McCain.

Obama on greatest moral failures

By Jennifer J. Foster

Obama says his greatest moral failure was as a youth when he experimented with drugs and alcohol. This is a safe answer; the information is already out, and many Americans can relate to his experience.

Obama handles the difficult question about what America’s greatest moral failure is with ease. We don’t meet the biblical premise of “whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me,“ he says.

This could be a big pitfall question because it requires the candidates to find fault with America ... never a good thing in an election. But Obama got through it nicely.