McCAIN BIOGRAPHY TOUR UPDATE
April 3rd, 2008, 10:19 am · 2 Comments · posted by Dan Lehr
Any talk about his personal faith.
Full story after the jump.
The Politico has an article out today about how any talk of personal faith is absent on McCain’s current biography tour:
In an Oprah Winfrey-era where soul-baring and expressions of faith are the norm for public figures, the presumptive Republican nominee, open and candid about much else, retains a shroud of privacy around his Christianity.
Raised Episcopalian, McCain now attends a Baptist megachurch in Phoenix. But he has not been baptized and rarely talks of his faith in anything but the broadest terms or as it relates to how it enabled him to survive 5 ½ years in captivity as a POW.
In this way, McCain, 71, is a throwback to an earlier generation when such personal matters were kept personal. To talk of Jesus Christ in the comfortable, matter of fact fashion of the past two baby-boom era presidents would be unthinkable.
What drives him - at least outwardly - is precisely what he has been talking about this week: a love of country and sense of duty instilled by a military family with a long legacy of service.
supports McCain’s right to keep silent on the issue. The fact that he goes to church & has demonstrated sufficiently he is not “secular” should be more than enough for voters for whom these issues matter.
Bill Clinton & George W. Bush both broke from presidential tradition in discussing matters of their own personal faith (one could make an argument Jimmy Carter belongs in this set, too).
As we’ve said before, we believe what’s most important is not a candidate’s personal approach to religion, but rather how a candidate believes how the issue of faith should be treated in the public square for all Americans of all religious stripes, including those who claim not to be religious.
Here’s what Barack Obama has had to say about faith matters, from his website. Those of you who would never consider voting for a Democrat based on issues of faith & Christianity might be surprised at how he approaches the issue.
Hillary Clinton does not mention on her website how she views issues of religion.
What do you think? Should McCain be more forthcoming about his religious principles? Post a comment!
(come on, folks, please post a comment.. it’s been a while since we’ve had any) (UPDATE: thanks!!)
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
I have a thought on the “Dream Team” in the elections. Everyone calls an Obama/Clinton ticket the Dream Team, but I have another couple of suggestions—
For the Democratic Ticket: Hillary Clinton (Pres) and Bill Clinton (VP)
For the Republican Ticket: John McCain (Pres) and BARACK OBAMA (VP) You know how McCain likes to reach across party lines to get things done. I think this would be a winning ticket. McCain could handle the fiscal and war efforts and Obama could handle the social issues.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:31 am
Vote08Blog, you couldn’t have said it better yourself. If I may add, I am refreshed that McCain as a Republican is not expounding on his faith as a campaign point. I think freedom of religion (whether it is the presence OR the absence of it) is important today, and I think the past two presidents have estranged non-Christian (and at time non-fundamentals) people by their Christian rhetoric. This has not resulted in unifying the country (and the US with the world) but dividing. A person’s religion and/or beliefs should be based on his or her actions, not his or her rhetoric.