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He is saying that God knows the answer to that. The irony is that McCain is against abortions for a fetus, but seems to have no qualms about 4,000 responsible adults being killed in an unnecessary war or people who die from lack of health care.

When you can't answer a question like that or refuse to do so, your pay grade should never rise above community organizer. U.S. Senate is above this charlatan's pay grade.

I really liked Obama's answers to Rick Warren. He is much more thoughtful and intelligent than McCain. We had a bet at my home as to how long it would take McCain to talk about being a prisoner of war. He got it out in the first 15 minutes. Who cares it was 35 years ago. McCain is just more of Bush.

Candy..quite being soooooooooooo bias. Obama doesn't duck, just listen to him. Your so use to Bush, barking garbage and never do you complain about Bush or McCain. Take the plugs out of your ears

evasive....good one obama side stepped another one...

Barack did not duck any thing. he answered truthfully in forum where most of the growd was right wing fundamentalist that wasn't a fair forum. I mean that the growd was gentile enough to Barack but hey they were happy to see there pro life twisted sister MCCain walk out there . the veil was lefted They loved the bs, he was spoon feeding them.

Hey Rick, I promise you I won't snag you with this one, but can you tell me at what point a caterpillar grow its wings?

Also, I'm wondering why we celebrate our BIRTHDAY instead of our CONCEPTION DAY.. please refrain from giving me scientific gibber jabber, just answer the question please.

Right... Warren's talk of no GOTCHA questions was obviously not true.

It was a cheap shot by Warren, plain and simple.

Where was Warren't GOTCHA question for McCain? Right....

This was a serious error and really dumb! But, what else could the extremely pro-abortion candidate say!

McCain 08!

sorry, I mis-stated my prior sentence.

I meant to say : If we eat the egg as soon as its laid then we are eating an egg, if we leave it alone it will hatch into a baby chicken.

Obama did answer the question on when life begins. He said for those who believe life begins at conception and that is their belief consistently then he can not argue with them.

His answer to the question from my perspective is, he believes that answer lies with the individual and he respects others opinion.

His first answer is that belongs to God. His primary objective is to stop abortions by finding other alternatives to abortion, and if we can do that we won't have to debate over when life begins.

How do we determine that ? Are we talking about scientific analysis of when life begins, does it begin when we hear a heart beat or does it begin at the moment the egg and the sperm connect ?

We don't know because we don't know what happens at the point. What about eating a chicken egg? If we eat the egg as soon as it's hatched we are getting an egg not a baby chick, but if we leave that egg alone it will hatch into a baby chick.

So is life created at conception or is it still just an egg.

Obama is such a fake

Oh, for crying out loud!! There are only two possible answers to that question: the conservative Christian "at conception," or a response of "I don't know."

If you don't hold as a matter of faith that life begins at conception, the only other honest answer is that we don't or cannot know, exactly, when "life" begins.

Obama didn't "duck" the question, he gave one of the two possible valid answers..... What was he going to say? "At precisely 6 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours and 14 minutes after conception", or the like??? Get real.

Obama spoke from a personal faith base level and from his heart. John McWar did nothing but campaign and spoke of war and every answer.

Obama 08

It's all above your pay grade, Barry. Go back to south Chicago. With over 400 shot down in the streets so far this year, I'd say your community could use some more organizing. Besides, Jerry and Larry are getting lonely.

Sen. Obama did answer this question. Maybe you were just distracted and missed it. Your bias in how you frame this event is overwhelming. I didn't hear Pastor Rick ask for the audience to stand when Obama came in. I did hear him ask the audience to stand when McCain came on. Obama answered the questions that were posed to him. Sen. McCain didn't but talked about what he wanted to talk about and went so far as to acknowledge to Pastor Rick that he was going to do exactly that. The audience warmly recieved both Senators.

Obama needs to be able to answer this one... no matter what the answer is...just ANSWER it. Not Obama's finest moment.

Only God can really answer that question.

Not the only interesting response Obama gave during his Q&A session. When asked which current Supreme Court Justice he would not have nominated, Obama said Clarence Thomas. When asked why he wouldn't have nominated Thomas, Obama caught himself mid-sentence saying that Thomas wasn't experienced enough when nominated. I thought judgment is all that matters when one is nominated (or elected) to national office.

Obama can represent most of American citizens-he has an understanding of the current world view that is modern and up to date.
McCain sounded like "Leave it to Beavers" father back in the 50's. His appeal is only to a limited few. He is old, old school. He is not current,up-to-date, or flexible enough in his mind or heart to do a good job for us voters. GET OUT AND VOTE>

Abortion...does a woman have a say in this matter? Just leave out the Hillarepublican/Puma/femenists for MCcain women that are out there. They want their decisions made for them.

"above my pay grade" – Can somone tell me what does that means?

Thanks..

Excuse me, Candy, but for Obama to say–in essence–that he doesn't know the answer to that questions is NOT dodging the issue. It's the truth. He doesn't know when life begins (which is basically what Pastor Warren asked). Neither do I. Neither do you. Neither does Rick Warren or anyone else–even if they think they do. I thought Obama's response was another way of saying that only God knows this. And that's true. I don't agree of your characterization of his answer as a dodge.

If he can't give an opinion about such a simple question, what makes him think he's a qualified person to run for leadership of this country? Baffling. But he is a pro at dodging questions.

OBAMA AS A CHURCH GOER , FROM ALL THE HISTORY WE HAVE READ ABOUT HIM , AN HIS REGLION. I FEAL HIS TEACHER WAS NOT ONE OF THE BEST (WRIGHT ) AN YET HE SUPORTED HIM FOR A LONG TIME.
HE HAS FLAT OUT LIED TO MANY. HE HAS FOUND SHADY WAYS TO CONDUCT BUSINESS FOR HIS OWN FOOT HOLDS. FOUND A SHADY WAY TO BECOME , INTO THE SENATE, BY BEING UNOPOSED..
THEN DOGGES ALL IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.
NO OBAMA , HAS NO FEALINGS ABOUT TOMORROW. HE WOULD SELL OUT THIS COUNTRY , FOR A HAT PIN.

Above my pay grade?
Since when, having an opinion involves pay grade?
Slick!

he's right and i dont see it as a 'dodge'.and i dont care for your implication that it was.he stated the 'known' fact.NOONE KNOWS FOR CERTAIN.he actually gave the only 'factual' answer to the question.mccain's answer was presumptious as he is not an expert in the field ,either.this is the problem when this particular question is asked.we simply do not know yet.it was a trick question but obama gave the only correct answer there is ,for now.i think your perception of this is flawed and slightly biased.

I thought oit a very smart response. It's not up to us to decide when life begins. Who is presumptious enough to make that claim? Oh, that's right...John McCain...

He didn't duck the question, you superficial moron. He said in other words, that no one should presume to know the definitive answer to this question!

I thought Obama was going to say it was God's fundamental privilege to man:to have freedom to make a choices and live with the consequences. And if God din't take that away from man neither should any man or government.

Because if we really believe life begins at conception, millions of women are going to have to reconsider The Pill, which rejects implantation of fertilized eggs in the womb.

Fertilized egg = conception.

"The progestin component of the combination pill and the progestin-only minipill cause the inner lining of the uterus to become thin and shriveled, unable to support implantation of the embryo(newly fertilized egg)"

DURING TESTIMONY ABOUT PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTIONS WHERE THE NURSE TESTIFIED. CNN DOESNT POST THIS ITS BECAUSE ITS TRUE. SHE TOLD OF A DOWNS BABY LATE TERM ABORTED. PARENTS DIDNT WANT TO HOLD THE CHILD AFTER IT SURVIVED. FOR 40 OR SO MINS THIS NURSE TESTIFIED SHE CRADLED THE CHILD TILL IT DIED. OBAMA VOTED AGAINST GIVING MEDICAL CARE TO SUCH A CHILD. CHECK THE RECORD BUT PLEASE DONT HIDE THIS FACT. IM SURE SOME ONE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE ME A LIAR. GO AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!! I DONT KNOW EVERY DETAIL BUT I KNOW HE LIED THRU HIS TEETH ABOUT THIS. WHAT LITTLE RECORD HE HAS WILL TELL THE STORY. FOR THE TRUTHS SAKE POST THIS.

Very evasive answer to a question he obviously anticipated. Not willing to lose a vote or two by giving an answer unpopular among evangelicals, Obama decides to give a humorous answer rather than tell what he believes to be the truth.

When Obama said that question was above his pay grade, he meant it was a question that could only be answered by God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a Hillary Clinton supporter I watched the press previously elevate Senator Obama even when he said nothing. Tonight the contrast between a candidate who knew what he believed in (McCain) and a candidate who was trying to fence sit and please everyone (Obama) was very evident. Candy it is enlightening to read the title of your ticker..."Obama dodges a thorny question" Now that wasn't too difficult was it? Please stop this starry eyed adoration of one candidate by cable news and help the voter decide on issues.

That is not "ducking". That is saying, "I do not know.... this is too complex a question for me to be able to answer categorically".The problems start when you think you have all the answers.

Though I think human rights begin at conception.

Obama answered the questions from the perspective of what this forum was advertised to be about. McCain was too political and used this as an opportunity to push his poltical agenda.

Obama was open, thoughtful and honest in his answers. He kept on topic of faith.

All McCain could talk about was war, more war and more war in his personal expericences. His mindset came out very clearly to be war!
And also said we Americans need to volunteer for the war.

Right the answer is within you and your beliefs it's not for someone to tell you or try to change your mind.

Obama was his usually glib talking self. All about himself, and he knows he does that – he even talks about it. Stop boohooing about your "poor childhood" You are suppose to be a man now so act like one. Obama is a slick talker and will continue to be. It seems like he is answering the question but when you go back to it, there is nothing of substance there.

I believe Obama was insinuating that was a question for God.

The man wants to be the leader of this country, a beacon of freedom and prosperity to the world, and portray himself off as a non-politician politician, and suddenly issues regarding human rights are above his pay grade? Well, if that is the case, then he should probably rethink is established position on abortion then. He may have been complicit in the torture and execution of thousands of unborn babies all this time.

McCain look much,much,better than Obama. Obama mn,ye,mn, look like boy in 5th grade. IF NOT HRC ___GO McCAIN>

Talk about dodging a question.

He should have at least spoke his mind and showed true leadership.

I guess that this means that he is NOT a leader.

I like Obama, but I don't like his answer to this question.
A life is worth much more than his pay.

It seems that Rick Warren didn't want a stump speech from Obama as he answered, however.... he allowed McCain to give parts of his stump speech. What was that about?

He didn't dodge it. What he said was that he isn't a scientist and can't answer the question. My question is why are these questions padded to give McCain the easy out?

A more appropriate question would be: What is the difference between aborting a viable fetus and lynching anyone. Does human life need to be respected whether in or out of the womb.

It sounded a little like a government worker response but I understood it to mean that abortion has such a moral and ethical implications and is so scientifically vague that even the President of the United States can not be the judge of someone elses morality at that level. Its between that person and their God.

I love this guy! It is such an appropriate answer to a question that:
1) Can't be answered in a few minutes.
2) That no-one but God and you have the right to discuss.
3) And can have a lot of other details "Attached" to it.

He did go onto deal with it quite directly after this unfortunate duck,

Weasel! The American voter deserves to know where you stand on the issues. This direct question deserved a direct answer.

Are all of you pro-life people ready to pay more taxes to take care of these section-8 mothers and babies. If not you have no say. At least John McSame has adopped a child and has put his money up for what he believes in. Can most of you say the same? Obama is right. How are we as christians living to make people want to come around to our way of living? Does the life that you are living make them want to be like and do as you do?
Obama08

Crowley didn't listen to Barack's whole answer. Barack also said we need to work on reducing the number of abortions. He is also against late term abortions.

Oh please, seriously? Anything he might have said other than "life begins at conception" would have brought a "news" bit like this. Please stop taking snippets out of context in a weak attempt to make a splash.

dodging important issues again.

obama 08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

especially interesting after his father's day comments in an Illinois Church. How did it go...."fatherhood doesn't END at conception?" One might argue he's insinuated father hood begins at conception....

It's above all of our pay grade. He doesn't know when "life" is created. The Bible does say when. Scientists can't say when. We can't even agree on a definition of LIFE. What he meant was when life begins is going to be a matter of opinion and God will be the only arbiter and He hasn't made a determination in scripture. That is reality.

That's why he dodged. Pro-lifers have an opinion. It's valid, but according to the supreme court, it's not definitive. This is a non-important wedge issue IMO.