"Last night, we received disturbing reports that McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis had been making phone calls to state leaders to gauge their reactions to the selection of a pro-abortion running mate. Most signs pointed to former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. Big problem! Governor Ridge is not only aggressively pro-abortion, supporting measures like the Freedom of Choice Act, which would have overturned most state laws on abortion, while serving as a U.S. Congressman, he was well known for publicly opposing many of President Reagan's policies relating to national defense and siding instead with liberal Democrats. This afternoon Fox News is reporting that officials at the Republican National Committee are knocking down the reports of a pro-abortion running mate for McCain. If so, the Arizona Senator has averted a misstep that would not only have cost him the ground he gained over the past week but probably assured him of defeat this November."

"As speculation grows around who John McCain will select as his vice presidential running mate next week, Republican National Committee officials said Tuesday that McCain is no longer considering former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge."

"The Obama people must feel that he didn't do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because that — what they're putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.... He seemed so well-prepared."

Now that it is apparent John McCain "won" the Saddleback town hall, conservatives are likely to view the event as a good thing.  In truth, though it was a net positive for McCain, the overall event was not good for conservatives.

I always hesitate to speak disparagingly of any a man of the cloth.  My reasoning is that one can be forgiven for wrongly criticizing a politician, but it is another thing altogether to be guilty of wrongly criticizing someone ordained by the Almighty.  But it is now clear that Rick Warren has moved from the latter category to the former; he is now essentially a politician -- or worse: a game show host.

As everyone knows, he is already an amazingly successful author, but the success of his forum the other night -- and the national coverage it garnered for him -- has propelled him to an even higher echelon.  Regardless of how you feel about the involvement of religious leaders in politics (those on the right can argue for -- or against it -- in defense of religion), I can't help but have this gut instinct that Warren is a self-serving sort who has effectively manipulated the media.

But putting the self-promotion angle aside, there are substantive reasons to object to Warren.  For one thing, he is among those "up-and-coming" Evangelical leaders who has encouraged his flock to focus on issues such as the environment (of course, this could also be considered a shrewd form of self promotion, as it is sure to lead to positive media coverage for Warren). 

While being good stewards of mother Earth is always presented only as an addition to the list of concerns, I'm skeptical this is an effort to replace concern over issues such as the right to life.  The ultimate goal of this, of course, is to artificially change the focus of Christian voters toward issues which favor Democrats.

And while McCain's performance the other night was superb, this was not fore-ordained.  It might have gone the other way.  Symbolically, hosting Barack Obama was a tacit admission by Warren that voting for Obama is, at least, a reasonable option for Evangelicals.  This, of course, is problematic, due to his positions on a multitude of issues, not the least of which is the right to life.