Saddleback Civil Forum: EXCELLENT

The perfect model for a discussion on issues was televised last night. The Saddleback Civil Forum was a two hour forum with Barack Obama and John McCain discussing issues in separate one hour segments. One candidate was on stage while the other was secluded and unable to listen.

The forum was displayed as a relaxed casual conversational dialogue with the Pastor of Saddleback Church, Dr. Rick Warren, who did an excellent job probing each candidate on various issues broken down into categories; Stewardship, Leadership, Worldview, and What Role America Plays in the World.

The program in the church is a series of discussions designed to present civil discourse on various issues.

This would be a good format for the upcoming elections in the 118th Assembly and 48th Senate district seats. It is no secret the candidates disagree on policy and approach, and it serves little purpose for candidates to debate each other when they will not agree, so let the candidates explain directly to the voters how they will view and handle issues that affect them.