Obama Aide: Choice of Rev. Warren Is ‘Healthy’

David Axelrod, a top adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, defended Mr. Obama’s selection of a controversial pastor to participate in the inaugural ceremony and dismissed that his boss could have more to reveal about a scandal over his former Senate seat. Speaking on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, Mr. Axelrod offered a strong defense for choosing evangelical pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at Mr. Obama’s swearing in on Jan. 20. Liberal supporters and gay activists in particular have questioned the choice of Rev. Warren, citing his church’s disapproval of homosexuality and his support for a ban on same-sex marriage that passed in California in November. “You have a conservative, evangelical pastor who’s coming to participate in the inauguration of a progressive president, and this is a healthy thing and a good thing for our country,” Mr. Axelrod said. “We’ve got to get beyond this sort of politics where we’re ... (link)