When President Bill Clinton played his saxophone on the late-night “Arsenio Hall Show” in 1992, it was obvious that presidential campaigns had changed. That evolution continued Saturday night when presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain made their first joint appearance of the 2008 campaign. This time, it was not in a televised debate moderated by reporters in a university auditorium, but at an evangelical church conducted over a cup of coffee with its pastor.

The Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency, moderated by mega-church pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren, turned out to be more interesting and politically important than one might have expected, as the presumptive nominees discussed heartland issues of leadership, worldview, domestic policy and America’s place in the world. Going in, the significance of the event seemed to be its church setting and audience of 2,200 church members, and the increasingly important evangelical Christian voter. From what I saw there, it was that and more.

The two-hour forum was really the opening, the tone-setting lap of an Olympic presidential race, as the candidates contrasted sharply in both style and substance. Democrat Obama spoke for the first hour, with Republican McCain off-stage, unable to hear the questions that would be posed to him later. As expected, Obama was a great conversationalist, offering thoughtful answers to tough questions. Highly personal and seemingly impossible questions - what three people would you listen to as president, what is your greatest moral failure, what does faith in Christ mean to you - seemed like small hurdles for his nimble mind.

After a bit of a shaky start, McCain hit his stride with remarkably direct and energetic answers to the tough questions. Obama’s nuanced responses, in which he processed multiple sides of complex issues, contrasted with McCain’s direct replies. When asked when a child’s human rights begin, McCain said straightforwardly, “at conception,” whereas Obama equivocated. On same-sex marriage or merit pay for teachers, again McCain stepped into the pitch with a solid hit, whereas Obama’s responses seemed more circular. As one pleasantly surprised evangelical leader said, “McCain is back on the straight talk express.”

The expectations game will be hard on Obama. He performed well, but that’s what people expect. McCain easily exceeded expectations. Obama’s deeper exploration of issues tells us how he would think about education or a global threat, but McCain’s straight talk says more clearly what he would do about them. Some of this is age and experience - McCain frequently told anecdotes to illustrate what he has done. It is also different backgrounds and training - a law professor like Obama is taught to see the difficulties and complexities, whereas a military officer such as McCain is schooled to find the path through them. One couldn’t help but think that Obama must sharpen his answers to one central point for the formal debates.

And what about those evangelical voters? In one way, Obama won points here just by being on the stage of an evangelical Christian church in conservative Orange County. Evangelicals, who constitute 20 to 25 percent of the national electorate, voted nearly 80 percent for George W. Bush in 2004, so sitting at the same table with the influential evangelical leader, the Rev. Warren, helps Obama. And he naturally speaks the language about his faith in Jesus Christ, evil, sin and salvation.

But McCain overcame his previous reluctance to speak clearly about his faith, stepping right into questions about his relationship to Christ (”I’m saved and forgiven”) or limiting the hiring policies of faith-based organizations (no, “it would severely cripple them”). Perhaps more important, McCain’s positions on the tough moral issues, such as abortion or same-sex marriage, clearly square better with evangelicals than Obama’s positions. In the end, however, Obama doesn’t have to win this group outright, but merely make an inroad, which seemed plausible Saturday night.

It was a dramatic couple of hours when a pastor and his church got candidates to grapple honestly and civilly with tough questions. By the end, it seemed clear that McCain’s straight talk express will present a formidable challenge to Obama, the great conversationalist.

David Davenport is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He attended the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency in Lake Forest (Orange County).

Tags: conversationalist

PATNA: The railways have handed over catering services of the prestigious Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express (2309-2310) to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), an undertaking of the Indian Railways. This decision has been taken with a view to improving further the catering services of the railways, particularly in the running Rajdhani Express.

According to IRCTC regional manager Rajesh Rana, the IRCTC has built a new-base kitchen at Rajendra Nagar Terminal to supply quality food in the Rajdhani Express. Keeping in view the needs of elite class passengers in this particular train, the IRCTC has included diet meals on its menu on the pattern of continental food.

The diet meals contain special quality meals, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, to the passengers. Special care is being taken of the patients and elderly people travelling by Rajdhani Express, he said.

He said the base kitchen is based on purely hygienic and smokeless cooking system. The IRCTC has deployed skilled hands to handle the base kitchen work efficiently at Rajendra Nagar Terminal. Besides, the staff serving meals in the Rajdhani Express train are well-trained to perform their duty to the satisfaction of the passengers, he said.

According to Rana, the railways have also given catering services of the Patna-New Delhi Garib Rath to IRCTC. The IRCTC has so far received good response from passengers of the Garib Rath. That apart, the IRCTC `Janata meals’ being made available to passengers at a very low price of Rs 10 each packet has become popular among the common passengers and is yielding revenue to the railways, he said.

Rana maintained that the IRCTC has made the monthly health check-up of each staff serving food to passengers on running trains mandatory. Unless the IRCTC staff is physically and medically fit, he cannot work on any train. The IRCTC is committed to maintain hygiene while serving food to the passengers on running trains, he said, adding food inspectors have been deployed in good number in each zone of the railways to check quality of food being served to the passengers especially in the long-distance trains.

He said the railways have decided to install automatic vending machines (AVMs) at tourist places like Gaya and Rajgir. The railways intend to install about six such AVMs each at these two tourist places soon to cater to the needs of foreign tourists. These AVMs would be installed on the pattern and design of the AVMs already installed at Patna Junction, he said.

Tags: express

Lawyers from across the NWFP celebrated President Musharraf’s resignation on Monday and termed it a victory of the lawyers’ movement against the general. However, they vowed to continue their struggle until superior courts’ deposed judges were restored to their pre-November 3 position.

In the provincial capital, hundreds of lawyers celebrated Musharraf’s resignation. A rally of about 200 lawyers, led by Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) Secretary General Mohammad Isa Khan, was taken out of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) just after the president’s resignation announcement.

The lawyers rallied from PHC building on the NWFP Assembly Road to Justice Chowk showing victory signs. Some of them expressed their joy by dancing and shouting anti-Musharraf slogans during the rally.

Similarly, lawyers from other parts of the province including Mardan, Abbottabad, Hazara, Swabi, Malakand, Dera Ismail Khan, Nowshehra, Charsadda and Kohat also celebrated Musharraf’s resignation and expressed happiness by holding rallies.

Talking to Daily Times, PHCBA Secretary General Isa Khan said that Musharraf’s resignation was the second demand of the lawyers’ movement since March 2007 when he sacked Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Judges’ restoration was their first demand. The PHCBA secretary general, however, said that their real issue is re-instatement of deposed judges to their pre-November 3, 2007 position.

Barrister Bacha, a senior PHCBA member, welcomed Musharraf’s resignation and hoped that the coalition government will fulfill its commitment of restoring the deposed judges within three days after Musharraf’s stepping down.

He demanded of the government to put the name of Musharraf in the exit control list (ECL) and do not give him a safe exit. He also demanded of the government to make the charge sheet, prepared by the government against him, public through media.

“It is the right of every Pakistani to know about the charges leveled by the government against Musharraf,” he said, adding that Musharraf be tried in court under Article 6 of the Constitution and other criminal laws for violation of the Constitution and “committing serious crimes” in his era.

Tags: Lawyers

from injured pitcher, to concerned parent and husband, to the father of a recently-born son Deacon.
He’s looking to add another chapter. Wells became a free agent today and is weighing an offer from the Kansas City Royals. The Royals are looking for Wells to provide immediate help for their bullpen.
Wells, designated for assignment by the Rockies a week ago after the arrival of Livan Hernandez, has kept his arm strong by throwing three times over the past week in his hometown of Houston.
Wells went 1-2 with a 5.27 ERA for the Rockies, unable to find a niche after missing 10 weeks with a blood clot injury and subsequent rehabilitation assignment. After failing in a one-shot audition for the rotation, he pitched well in his last relief outing, working two scoreless innings against the Nationals on Aug. 7.
The Dodgers and Twins have also been active in their search for a starting pitcher, but it’s unclear if either is interested in Wells. The Dodgers have discussed trading for San Diego’s Greg Maddux over the past few weeks, but talks broke down over money. Minnesota claimed Jarrod Washburn on waivers from Seattle, but the two sides were unable to work out a deal.
If Wells signs with another club, the Rockies will receive salary relief. They owed the right-hander roughly $900,000 when they cut ties. Whatever major league salary Wells signs for with another team – likely around the $390,000 minimum – would be pro-rated to offset the Rockies’ remaining commitment.
Colorado swept the Nationals over the weekend and begins a three-game series with the Dodgers Tuesday night in Los Angeles.