Obama Doesn’t Extend Kind Words in Church Onto Campaign Trail

RENO, Nev. — So much for hugging in church. A day after Barack Obama and John McCain exchanged an embrace during a faith forum at a California megachurch, Obama called the U.S. economy a disaster thanks to “John McCain’s president, George W. Bush,” and chided his Republican rival’s campaign team for trying to make him look unpatriotic and weak. At a town hall meeting with several hundred union members, Obama said he had had a great conversation with McCain at the forum at Saddleback Church sponsored by the popular evangelical pastor Rick Warren. The two candidates shook hands, briefly hugged and stood onstage with Warren, the first time they appeared together in public since the end of the primary season. But Sunday, after praising the Arizona senator as a “genuine American patriot,” the Democratic presidential hopeful got back to business — methodically tearing into McCain’s health care, tax and energy policies and criticizing his advisers. ... (link)