Obama-Warren Flap

Barack Obama has drawn a lot of angry reaction from gays and the Democratic left about his choice of prominent evangelical pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his Inauguration. Warren supported California Proposition 8, which overturned the state's recent court decision legalizing same-sex marriages. It would be a good thing for the critics to get over the anger and realize Obama is doing exactly what he promised he would do during his campaign. I refer to the promise that more than any other won him the presidency, the promise to end the cycle of red and blue gotcha politics that does little but demonize and caricature all who do not agree on every point.

Obama has said many times that he is interested in solving America's problems. There are several issues he and Warren agree on, such as HIV-Aids, aid to education and the poor, the need to encourage parental responsibility and environmental action. Rather than do nothing but fight over the things we disagree about, why not work together to make progress where we do agree, Obama asks.

You can read a short, accurate synopsis on the issues involved here.

For his part, Warren too has drawn fire from some of his supporters for inviting the pro-choice Obama to speak at Warren's Saddleback Church in 2006 and to be questioned there this summer on national television just ahead of a similar session with Obama's opponent, John McCain. Obama and Warren exemplify a welcome trend that would be very good for the country over the next few years.

Instead of vilifying each other, liberals and conservatives ought to identify where they hold common ground and get to work on those matters. The disagreements on other items will still be there; there will be contention about them and someone will win and someone will lose. But that is no reason to completely refuse any cooperation on issues where progress can be made. Those are the kind of political games the American people are very tired of, and against which both the Democratic and Republican tickets ran this year. Barack Obama is not going to run the country in the divisive way President Bush has for the past eight years. That is a good thing. Both Obama and Warren are sending this signal to their most fervent supporters and the nation as a whole for good reason. Their approach should be embraced.