Obama Defends Rev. Warren Selection

Susan Davis reports on politics. President-elect Barack Obama has come under fire from gay rights groups and others since the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced Wednesday that Rev. Rick Warren will give the invocation at Obama’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Speaking at a news conference in Chicago today, Obama defended his own record in support of gay rights and said that Warren’s selection was in line with his campaign promise of big tent leadership. “What I’ve said is that it is important for America to come together even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues,” Obama told reporters. The president-elect further noted that Warren invited him to his church to speak despite disagreeing with Obama’s support of abortion rights. “What we have to do is create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable, and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans,” Obama said today. Warren, the evangelical pastor of ... (link)