Leaks in McCain's Cone of Silence?

I must admit that listening to McCain answer Pastor Rick Warren's questions so quickly and glibly Saturday night at the Saddleback Faith Forum made me wonder if he somehow knew them in advance. He was so confident, so concise. But I put the thought aside as unduly paranoid -- that is until Sunday afternoon. I was routinely checking my favorite election website fivethirtyeight.com and the webmaster, Nate Silver, referred to a piece in Daily Kos about the whereabouts of John McCain for the first thirty minutes of Senator Obama's interview with Rick Warren. Was he in a cone of silence? Apparently not.

Daily Kos blogger Furiousxxgeorge wrote at 3:27 pm Pacific time the following blog:

Pastor Warren, the host of last night's forum was just on CNN. In an interview with Rick Sanchez the pastor admitted McCain was not even at the Church for the first half hour of the event. This admission comes as a surprise to those of us who watched the event and were told many times that McCain was at the Church and in isolation.CNN says they talked to McCain's camp and they said no one in his camp was listening. The honor system, are you kidding me?I think it is pretty clear at this point McCain did indeed know the questions in advance.

Is this a big deal or not? It seems like someone ought to ask both McCain and Warren what really happened. The "truthiness" of this Forum is at stake. Warren will be on CNN Monday night, August 18 at 9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific. Tune in and comment!

Update 1: Pastor Warren states that McCain told him he did not "hear" the questions. He was in a motorcade from his hotel to the church, arriving about 30 minutes into the Obama interview hour. McCain did not say whether anyone else on his staff "heard" the questions, however. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/17/warren-mccain-did-not-violate-cone-of-silence/

Update 2: Warren has now given 2 or 3 different versions of which questions he told the candidates about prior to the event. First he said he told them about the orphan question and the abortion question. Then he said he told them about the "wise advisers" question and the "moral failure" question. That's four questions so far. Are there more?

Comments

[heal57]

Well, now we know that Rick Warren lied. I don't understand why Obama even did that so-called 'Forum'. They were pure right wing conservatives in that audience, and frankly, the same goes for Rick Warren.
Keep religion and politics SEPARATE cause this is exactly what happens when you mix them. McC looked better than usual cause he had the questions. The man can't answer anything that he doesn't read, and he's not good at reading. He mispronounces words even when he's reading. Duh...and millions of morons are going to vote for him!!!!!

Independent for Obama '08

[Sparty1]

Heal57,

Hear, hear! I couldn't agree with you more.

[foxfan]

I'm going to try a little common sense here. I'll type slow for the liberals.

Supposedly they were both given a list of topics or questions that would be asked. McCain came across as being more rehearsed and still jumped the gun on giving his answers.

McCain did not say anything that we did not expect or already know.

If he did listen to 30 minutes of Obama's interview 30 minutes before his own, how would that help him? He's not going to copy Obama's responses is he?

And for what it's worth, I think Obama handled the interview well. He came across as sincere, maybe a little nervous, and thoughtful. I know more about him now than I really thought I would know before election day. I guarantee he pickd up some votes Saturday.

Any chance we could move on to talk about some real issues?

[Ratso]

Reasonable response, but it will not satisify Hollywood.

[unity08]

"If he did listen to 30 minutes of Obama's interview 30 minutes before his own, how would that help him? He's not going to copy Obama's responses is he?"

I dont think you get it! The very fact that JMC had the opportunity to hear the questions would certainly be an advantage for him. Also the fact that they are so indignant to have the truth reported that he was not sequestered is telling.

I thought both candidates did what they needed to do. For O, it was a chance to state once again that he is a Christian and perhaps show how ridiculous some of the nefarious attacks on his character have been. JMc was playing to his base and he did well on that score. However he stuck to his same stump speech for the most part and relied on war stories to fill the time.

If he would have admitted he was late in the beginning and not attacked NBC for reporting the truth he might have avoided some of the critisism and suspicion. Americans have been subject to lying by the current administration and are in no mood for more. Just Tell the dam truth!

[laughingcrow]

I haven't read through all of the comments, so I don't know if someone else has brought this up, but I feel kind of encouraged by all of this. This was definitely a much more friendly venue for McCain than Obama to begin with. The McCain people still haven't given an excuse as to why they were late that I know of, so with the Rovie's running that campaign you can bet that they were late on purpose, so that they COULD prepare their candidate (I mean we've all read the stories lately about them limiting his time on his cell phone and with the press because of his tendency to go "off message"). So maybe they felt the need to cheat at a venue that was inherently friendly to them to begin with? Doesn't show a lot of confidence in their candidate does it?

[Linda Bergthold - Huffpost Blogger]

Update 3: Rick Warren has now said on CNN that if McCain had listened to something, the Secret Service would have reported it. NOT. The Secret Service never reports on the private activities of the people they protect. Talk about a CONE OF SILENCE!!! Warren has also admitted that he did not see McCain before he went out on the stage. Then he went out and said McCain was in a cone of silence. So he clearly knew McCain was not on the property yet. This is no excuse for his "misrepresentation" (yes you can call it a lie....but is it a lie if you didn't mean to tell it? boohoo.) He mentioned that he three them a "hard ball" with the moral failure question, but earlier today he said he had told them he would be asking that. So how is that a hardball??

[realistxxx]

Pastor Rick just jumped the shark.

[PennP]

SNL. Coneheads of Silence. They HAVE to do it.

[lisakaz2]

I wonder if the selection of order was rigged too. In any case, the event was staged and I'm glad I didn't pay attn. If I was O I wouldn't have begun unless Mc-Same was on site and VISIBLY IN the "cone." But I am that cynical.

[1028jenn]

I don't think the order was rigged, but Pastor Warren was disingenuous in how he told his audience and millions of viewers that McCain was no privy to what was being talked about. I think McCain just caught a luck break in that Obama went first. But I am convinced that McCain was being prepped before the event and continued to receive direction on his blackberry during the rest of Obama's part. We hear all the time how McCain has his cell phone glued to his ear or is completely dependent on his blackberry for what to say. He's a puppet of the republican party. And I was so surprised when McCain answered the questions with such ease-- it was like he had the answers memorized -- but wait, he did ! Remember how he was able to answer the questions about education even before Pastor Rick asked them ? I think Larry King is losing his touch -- he was way, way too soft on the pastor.

[kburlz]

He said he flipped it in front of his staff like two weeks ago. Doesn't sound fishy to me at all.

[CitizenInformed]

I just heard Warren's schmeal on CNN. His credibility ...with regard to the event ... is in question. He definitely sounds dubious.

[tojoi]

THANK YOU!!!! Mums the word with the Secret Service. Can you imagine the things they hear? It would be mind boggling. The media wouldnt be able to keep up with it! And we wouldnt be able to keep up either.

[ghostpigeon]

The issue of faith in an election should be not even be an issue. The founders were pretty clear on separating church and state, and talking up one over another is offensive to too many people across the religious and non-religious spectrum. But it's clear it will never be completely separated from politics in America and as long as it isn't we cannot cede the ground of this deeply personal issue when the right attacks us on our supposed lack of it. Obama doesn't have to get a clear "win" on this field, but he can't just walk away from it; too many people vote on the basis of religious faith. It's a minefield, but he does well with it so far. There is some sense in it too. People bring their values and ethics to the polls. That it is inescapable and should figure into how you vote and who you vote for, whether you're a Christian, a Buddhist or an atheist. For once, we have a candidate who can talk the talk of evangelical Christians but does so as it filters through a long tradition allied to social justice issues. We need to remember that the right hasn't always owned this ground. In fact, we got there first with revolutionary movements among the Christian left that go back to 1776. Once again, as long as need to go there, don't cede the ground.

[elan4444]

Yes, it's really unfortunate that our leaders have to pass the "faith" litmus test.

[foxfan]

The founders were clear that the country would not have a state sponsored religion. This nation was founded on the priniples of religious freedom. The term "seperation of church and state" came from a later book and has been used to corrupt our society into thinking that faith and religion are forbidden outside of our homes and our churches.

[indyrep]

Here's a comment from a staunch conservative:
"There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly.... They are trying to force government leaders into following their positions 100 precent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claimthe right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has som e God-granted right to control my vore on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of conservatism."
Where are the leaders today that will stand up and say such things?

OBTW This was Barry Goldwater in 1981

[zoozey]

Yep! Neocons have nothing to do with real conservativism. The Conservatives ushered in the Religious Right in 1980 when they needed them to start getting things rolling on the Corporatization of America.

The religion thing has been growing since then. I don't recall ever having to listen to all this bullcrap about religion. The first campaign I paid attention to, though not able to vote, was McGovern and Nixon. Nixon was supposedly a Quaker (!) and I am not sure what McGovern was.

This Evangelical thing has just gotten way too much press.

What scares me is that it is even growing in Europe--I know for sure in England. I really noticed a surge in it after 9/11. I guess they are afraid of the Rapture??

[Kirby]

The question asked of McCain was, "When does an unborn child have constitutional rights?" His response, we know, was, "At the moment of conception." And the audience responded, as I guess I would have, with applause, in knee-jerk response.

Yes, we Orthodox Jews, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Protestant Christians would say that at conception, human life begins and exists. The prime essence of a human being, its soul, is there; as such, it has the rights of a human being. So McCain was "primed" to respond in a vote-getting, opportunistic, way.

But it seems to me upon some analysis that McCain's underlying hypocrisy should be evident. He can correctly assert the truth about human life beginning at conception, and that therefore some rights of humanhood ensue. But in espousing the Iraq War and future wars with his bellicosity he shows his insincerity and lack of true commitment to a human's right to life. His convictions and experience are conditions which certainnly will bring on death and destruction to many more human beings who also have a right to continue their God-given life! What STRANGELOVE he has for humanity with his shallow and insane espousal of fighting for freedom and fighting to spread democracy.......right in the mindset of George W. Bush. McCain's experience we do not need; it is a repeat of Bush, and what a disaster that has been for human life -based on packs of lies, at that.

Evangelical Christians, wake up!!!

[peter777]

Not all conservative Christian believe in LeHay's rapture or in the Dispensationalist interpretation of scripture, especially many charismatic types. Perkins and others are misrepresenting who they represent. There is a lot of diversity of belief.

[rshrink]

We have to ask ourselves, do we want yet another repub who relies on lies, deceit, manipulation and seeks to win the highest office of our country by using these tactics? It that how we determine who has the character to represent our country? I am not speaking just of this incident. That has been McCain's pattern from the beginning. Tell people what he thinks they want to hear. Nevermind that sometimes he judges incorrectly about what they actually want to hear, which also indicates how out of touch he is.

[oakgroveinn]

When McCain was talking about education specifically, he vomited a list of talking points because he didn't think he had time to go into detail. Which he DIDN'T given that he had to tell a folksy anecdote at every turn. Whether he heard the questions in advance I think is immaterial. He is a one-trick pony who is about as deep as a puddle. He is a Bush-league delegator who doesn't think he has to know the details because cronies will know them for him.

[mkaren]

Almost all the answers McCain gave were parts of his stump speech, or things I've heard him say in interviews 1,687,916,571,463,578 times.

I am not kidding.

Obama tried to answer the questions, and McCain tried to give the "best" answers.

Seems pretty clear to me!

[AlexisAshley]

Correction, Barry O stumbled around for answers that would not cost him any votes.

Interesting, that this article makes no mention of Barry O's response to Rev. Warren's question about orphans to which Barry O answered "I cheated a little on this and actually did some research. . . " Are we just eversoslightly biased? hmmmm. . . .

[zoozey]

......and he said that he knew it was Warren's pet project. Said he had done his research on WARREN!

[njack]

At least he is honest in the matter.

[laughingcrow]

You are so right AlexisAshley. There is no difference between what McCain did and what Obama did. I mean, how dare Obama admit during the event that he did some research on a question that both camps were told about in advance. What is he trying to pull anyway, being above board and honest like that?

[mjtaylor22]

not biased he admitted to being told the question and then gave his answer that is honorable. it is to say o no i heard nothing and then give answers befroe the question is even completed.
that is the casue for suspicion. if he had been in a cone he would have ahd alot more humming and hawing as he usually does AND THEN THE NEWS STATIONS EDIT HIM OUT.
McCain said he was trying to listen thru the wall and I guess he did

[ghostpigeon]

With Rove on his team, who could believe he didn't have the questions at this forum. That is not the biggest problem though. The problem is that this was not Obama's "home field," though liberals in this country should not underestimate the strength of the growing movement in the evangelical communities that is emphasizing social and environmental justice. With these folks, McCain's canned answers will not make much ground. Obama did quite well in formulating answers that will resonate there. If it can be proved that McCain had access to the questions before the forum, that will backfire on him among many evangelicals, who whatever you think of their positions, are people who value truth and fair play at the grassroots level. McCain has never been strong with evangelicals and he patronized them at Saddleback -whether or not he had the questions. Obama needs to not cross that line and I don't think he did. What the evangelical community wants is respect, not solicitation. After dismissing communities of faith for so long, non-religious liberals should not go overboard in this election, but should debate issues with respect for opposing views.

[jsinclair]

Rove's an evangelical Christian Republican just like Rick Warren.

Rove lies and now we know Warren does, too. (Of course, he knew McCain wasn't there when it began. You know when a presidential candidate arrives--especially one you're depending on for your program).

I'm sure this was planned ahead--Warren somehow getting the questions to McCain in advance, then planning for him to hear OBAMA'S answers on the radio for a half hour in the limo.

Very sneaky. Completely dishonest (and in a church!!!)

Why am I still surprised by these people?

[S1m0n]

Karl Rove is an unbeliever, according to Karl Rove.

[donnal]

Does anything ever become Barry/Barck's fault? Is it possible that his narcisstic personality just showed up...you know his ability to lie, double talk, spin, and just make you want to run to your shower after you watch him.

If Senator McCain said he did not hear the questions then he did not ...O's performace was his own making and he gets thumbs down...

[heal57]

Barack Obama spoke beautifully at Warren's Forum. I have watched John McCain for a long time; he doesn't even know the borders of Iraq; he screws up everything he's asked, even when he's reading he mispronounces some words. He knew the questions and was rehearsed and I think he was medicated cause that's the most lucid I've seen him in years. I don't care what anyone says. That whole audience was mostly pro-McCain as is Warren.
The repubs can do everything possible to knock him out, but Obama is going to win this election, so deal with it.


Independent for Obama '08

[JenMI]

"If Senator McCain said he did not hear the questions then he did not""........McCain performance was quick and commanding and in the the past 18 months compares ONLY to his many scripted and rehearsed appearances on Saturday Night Live.

[zoozey]

Obama..narcisstic??? Really? How do you figure that? I thought he exemplified humility the other nite....something that McCain could learn.

[kingofscotts]

Did you honestly just use the words "Obama" and "humility" in the same sentence without the words "lack of" in between?

I have heard many things in the last year. Some shocked me some blew me away.

However hearing someone actually claim that Obama is humble takes the cake.

He may end up being one of our greatest Presidents. However I don't think any history book will EVER call him humble.

The mans ego could sink our entire naval fleet.

[Sixtwo]

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE NOT STUPID!!! Joh McCain was aware of the questions that would be asked at the forum! The only question is how and by whom. Riding in a car does not preclude hm from getting the information--we are living in a 21st century high-tech world folks!! First, McCain did not answer the question that was asked, in the manner in which it was asked--he had his PREPARED answer. For example, when asked the question about whether he believed that EVIL existed in the world today, he never said whether or not he believed there was evil--he just said two word--defeat it. When asked the question about something that happened 10 YEARS AGO, McCain immediately began to talk about something that happened JUST LAST WEEK. Throught the hour of coverage of John McCain, he SIMPLY RECITED HIS CAMAPIGN SPEECHES. I thought the forum was suppose to be a CONVERSATION. I was thoroughly disgusted...

[AlexisAshley]

You make no mention of BHO's answer to Rev Warren's question about orphans to which Barry O answered "I cheated a little on this and actually did some research. . . " Are we just eversoslightly biased? hmmmm. . . .

[Sixtwo]

Barack was referring to research on Warren stupid, not on the subject of orphans. I don't know who "Barry" is..

[KBAR]

If Barry had ANY 'core' values, none of the questions would have been tough. But a question of when life begins , to quote Berry, is "Above my pay grade".

Barry's 'core' values can be summed up as which ever way the polls favor that , not day but, HOUR!

[susanstudioz]

To KBAR -

You MUST remember that a PRESIDENT represents ALL of the American people - not just those with whom he sides with in "RELIGIOUS" matters!

McCain was playing to THE AUDIENCE and he knew very well who his AUDIENCE was and what THEY wanted to hear! He KNEW that going in and was dishonest - check his SENATE LAW VOTING RECORD!

Whether or not he knew the "QUESTIONS" in advance - ( and I think he did KNOW or they were fed to him or maybe just 'HIS' answers were fed to him . . . It's terribly "DIRTY POOL" that he wasn't in THAT ZONE OF SILENCE . . . ) - but he looked, spoke and acted like THE VERY OLD SCHOOL POLITICIAN that he is . . . whatever the case!

BTW, I'm almost 65 years old and an "Evangelical" Christian and have been for over 30 years. I probably more accurately should be called simply "A FOLLOWER of JESUS".LABELS are sometimes stereotyped . . .

I do think for myself, however, NO CHURCH or ORGANIZATION does my THINKING for ME . . . I NEVER drink COOLADE . . .

[indyrep]

Let's talk about (republican) core values. Bush ran MCain out of the 2000 race with outright lies and obfuscations about his family. Bush, the true Christian man loved by the evangelicals. Reagan, the republican demi-god, who was not a religious man, used astrology to set his schedule, he lied and circumvented the Constitution (Iran-Contra). The only core values of republicans are win elections at any cost, normally lies and deceit, and then govern badly. 75% of the current federal debt was accrued by 3 presidents Reagan, Bush, Bush. So much for fiscal responsibility and core values.
The real culprit in today's Washington gridlock is Newt Gingrich. He is the one that, as Speaker, refused to compromise on anything and set the wheels in motion for the personal attack machine to take over. $40 million to find out the BC got a bj. The core value is win at any cost.
Of course, we always have Dick Cheney's core values of FU on the floor of the Senate.

[StevieRae]

Let's see how the usual casual, lob-ball throwing Larry King deals with this controversy. Unlike, Rev. Warren, who never followed up on many of McCain's responses, like "getting back to my question, would you ........" Instead McCain controlling the "forum" and given his advanced information on the questions (does anyone doubt this!!!), he played to the church audience and merely reaffirmed some votes for himself in Orange Co. CA.

Assuming that King invited Rev. Warren on his show to clear up this issue, can we expect King to get to the bottom of how McCain responded?? I'm looking for King to use numerous "play-backs" of McCain answering questions to resolve this issue. If Rev. Warren really reflects on what's happened, this controversy is also about his reputation.

[PennP]

Don't count on anything useful or truthful coming out of it. I wasn't familiar with the person before this, but Rick Warren registers as a pretty squirrelly guy who's fine about fudging on facts, at his discretion. He's clearly partisan to McCain. He knew that McCain was not in the building when the forum began, because he said he wanted to give both men an extra question right before the forum began, but McCain wasn't there. So when he referred to McCain being in the "cone of silence" and in the building, he was not telling the truth, and he knew he was not telling the truth. And now he's yukking it up, as if this is a piffle.

Imagine the outrage from the conservatives if Obama had done what McCain did, and the pastor were on the liberal side of the fence.

[janicegwashington]

They're not going to say or do a damn thing! The media is punked out and Rick Warren is one of THEM. Do you know that they were charging $500 - $2,000 per ticket for that faked-out event? Do a google search for the particulars. They raked in around $10,000,000, but did not want to call it a fundraiser.

I believe that Rick Warren has been exposed for who he really is, also.

[zoozey]

So I had thought it was a McCain campaign rally, when it was actually a fundraiser.

It was quite "white" (excuse the pun) for that very, very wealthy audience to invite Obama to speak at their little fundraiser for the Republicans. I guess they were told to applaud for him a little since he got to be their token Black person. How patronizing.

Seriously, if that is truly how much they charged, then Obama really did do a WONDERFUL job on his questions. Screw it if McCain got the questions prior. Obama still outshone him in intellect, compassion and thought process. Obama is still more of a man. He is brave enough to come before a pre-selected audience whom many still sthink is a Muslim.

[zoozey]

Just saw as much as could stand. It was a real lovefest between Larry and Rick. Nothing controversial that I saw. Warren acted all like everything was just hunky-dorey the other nite, "they both did very well." Ofcourse he threw them both under the bus when he spoke of how he wanted to ask questions about poverty, nuclear proliferation, environmnent, "but they weren't as succinct as I had hoped."

Maybe since he told McCain he was going to "run out of questions," since McCain was jumping ahead, this would have been an opportunity for him to trot out those supposed questions. Instead he asks them vagueries like the one about evil.

[PennP]

That's because asking him fresh questions, ones that hadn't been given to the campaign before the forum, would have tripped him up.

I don't know what purpose drives Warren's life, but he needs a realignment.

[BottomLine2008]

How hard is it to have someboyd in the auditiorium with a cell phone transmitting the whole thing to the campaign?

[juzcuz]

And/or riding in a motorcade the first half hour watching CNN on televison would be my guess. It was like he had the answers right at the tip of his tongue for each question... I know he's not that quick or smart... watch the video when asked why viagara should be covered by health insurance but birth control shouldn't be... he fumbled and stuttered and never did answer the question.
McCain answered each question very quickly and very short responses, whereas Obama took his time and answered with much thought and honesty. Don't trust McCain one iota.

[GTRich2004]

And how exactly would he watch live CNN in a moving limo? CNN is not an OTA channel that you could pick up with an antenna.

Now if you had said listening to CNN on the radio I would have no disagreement with you.