Summarizing Saddleback
Rachel Motte has a post at Scriptorium called “The Candidate and the President: Rachel Motte Reports from Saddleback.” The following two parapraghs from her post provide a concise summary of the impressions made by the two participants:
Mr. Obama has talked at length in previous forums about his ability to bring people together. In reality this means that he has an inability to displease his audience. He needs to be liked. This is useful in a candidate, but fatal in a President. He excels in the art of sounding good while saying little, and his refusal to take a firm stance on almost anything in this forum will not help him gain the vote of those who were actually listening.
John McCain has no such qualms. He is well-known for being unafraid of what people think of him. This is not always a desirable quality in a candidate, but it is absolutely necessary in a President. Let Obama remain a candidate for a few more years—he’s good at it. John McCain, on the other hand, is ready to be President.