In an August 17 Washington Post article reporting on the August 16 appearances by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., Shailagh Murray and Perry Bacon Jr. wrote, "[Sen. John] McCain and his campaign advisers have been eager to put their struggles with Christian conservatives behind them. Some conservatives remain angry over his role in a 2005 compromise that allowed Democrats to block some conservative judges Bush was attempting to appoint; others still recall his criticisms of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as 'agents of intolerance' during the 2000 Republican primaries." But the Post did not note that, in April 2006, McCain said he no longer believed Falwell was an “agent of intolerance,” and delivered the commencement address at Falwell's Liberty University a month later, as Media Matters for America documented.

Moreover, while claiming that Sen. Barack Obama “endured a storm of controversy over comments made by the former pastor of the Chicago church he attended until recently,” and noting “the high-profile controversy stirred up by Obama's former pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.” the Post article ignored the controversy over comments by religious figures who endorsed McCain. Indeed, while Murray and Bacon noted that the McCain campaign was “eager” to put its “struggles with Christian conservatives behind them,” they did not mention that McCain actively sought the endorsement of controversial pastor John Hagee, despite Hagee's numerous controversial comments about gays, the Catholic Church, Islam, and women. Nor did Murray and Bacon note that even after Hagee's controversial comments came to light, McCain still said, “I'm glad to have his endorsement,” before eventually rejecting it. Murray and Bacon also did not mention McCain's connection to Rod Parsley, a senior pastor of the World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, whom McCain had reportedly called “one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide,” and who had been widely criticized for comments about Islam before he endorsed McCain. McCain accepted Parsley's endorsement on February 26, but then rejected it on May 22.

From the August 17 Washington Post article:

Barack Obama and John McCain made their first joint appearance of the general election Saturday night, breaking away from the debates over national security and the economy that have dominated the campaign in recent weeks to court evangelical voters at an Orange County megachurch.

The forum at Saddleback Church presented a rare opportunity for Christian voters to contrast candidates who do not conform neatly to party stereotypes. While Obama has spoken often about his faith -- and endured a storm of controversy over comments made by the former pastor of the Chicago church he attended until recently -- McCain has largely avoided public discussions of faith and values during his career, which has contributed to a sometimes rocky relationship with evangelical leaders.

The event was hosted by Rick Warren, the author of the best-selling “The Purpose Driven Life” and one of the country's most prominent evangelical preachers. Warren, a Southern Baptist, referred to both McCain and Obama as friends in his introductions. “They both care deeply about America,” Warren said. “They're both patriots.”

Each candidate was interviewed individually by Warren for an hour. The two met only briefly, embracing on the stage midway through the event as Obama exited and McCain entered.

[...]

Christian conservatives gave Bush 78 percent of their votes in 2004, and they remain a vital part of the Republican Party's electoral strategy. But although Democrat Obama has taken stances on issues such as abortion and gay rights that many Christians disagree with, his campaign hopes that he can cut into that showing by keeping his faith in the spotlight and by discussing topics such as poverty and global warming.

McCain and his campaign advisers have been eager to put their struggles with Christian conservatives behind them. Some conservatives remain angry over his role in a 2005 compromise that allowed Democrats to block some conservative judges Bush was attempting to appoint; others still recall his criticisms of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as “agents of intolerance” during the 2000 Republican primaries.

Many of these activists pointedly refused to back McCain during the GOP primaries, favoring former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney or former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Tony Perkins, head of the socially conservative Family Research Council, criticized McCain this summer for making faith and values less of a priority on his Web site and in other campaign materials than Obama had.

McCain has publicly suggested in recent days that even though he opposes abortion, he might select a running mate who supports abortion rights. That drew warnings from Perkins and other religious conservatives that they might not show up at the polls in November if McCain picked an abortion-rights supporter such as former governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.

But McCain's campaign has also sought to highlight stances such as his opposition to same-sex marriage and civil unions. The Republican nominee also has spoken about his faith more often in recent months, frequently focusing on how it sustained him as a prisoner of war after he was shot down over Vietnam.

Saturday night, he cited the role of faith in his decision to stay in a Vietnamese prison camp after he was offered release because his father was a high-ranking naval officer. He said it was the toughest choice he had ever made, adding that “it took a lot of prayer, it took a lot of prayer.”

The Obama campaign made an aggressive sales pitch at the event, distributing a 12-page booklet to the 2,200 people who streamed through Saddleback's doors that chronicled the candidate's “Christian journey” and his long relationship with Warren.

The campaign also announced Saturday that the upcoming Democratic National Convention would have a strong religious flavor, with “faith caucus meetings” to discuss religious voters' concerns and daily invocations and benedictions from national faith leaders. The list includes Joel Hunter, a prominent Republican pastor from an evangelical Florida church; a Greek Orthodox archbishop; a Roman Catholic nun from Cleveland; and a Colorado couple who are both Methodist ministers.

Topics of the faith caucus meetings include “How an Obama Administration Will Engage People of Faith”; “Moral Values Issues Abroad”; and “Getting Out the Faith Vote.”

For Obama, the Saddleback event allowed him to reinforce that he is a Christian before an audience that doubtless included many familiar with Internet and talk-radio-driven rumors that he is a Muslim. That particular falsehood has proven maddeningly difficult to dispel for Obama's campaign, continuing to dog his candidacy even after the high-profile controversy stirred up by Obama's former pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

On Saturday night, Obama's appearance was his second at Saddleback. In December 2006, he and conservative Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) addressed Warren's annual conference on HIV-AIDS.