INTERNAL MEMO

Posted at 7:12 p.m. ET

It's now widely acknowledged that John McCain won Saturday's Saddleback "faith" debate, moderated by Pastor Rick Warren.  He won it handily, in part because McCain actually has a point of view, and actually knows things, two standards apparently not required of some other candidates.

Many cannot emotionally accept that McCain came out ahead of Obama, and so a rumor has spread that McCain cheated, that he knew Warren's questions in advance.

Rick Warren himself has responded to those stories in an internal church memo, sent to us here at Urgent Agenda by a private source.  The memo says in part:

...it seems that somebody who didn't like the Forum is systematically
calling media to raise questions about McCain possibly hearing part of the
Forum. Of course McCain didn't hear anything. Both men agreed to the terms
of the Forum and I trust both of them. They are questioning the integrity of
McCain, the Secret Service, and our own security.

Actually, I'm afraid this rumor will hurt the Obama campaign, because if
someone asks me, I'll have to say that I told Barack in advance about one
of the questions, that I never got a chance to tell John McCain about because
he wasn't on campus yet.

I did an interview with Dan from Beliefnet which felt pretty antagonistic.
He charged "An anonymous source told me that John McCain was watching a
monitor in his green room." Flat out Impossible! But Dan had called Tim Farley
at XM radio and talked to Tim about this. Other media had been called too.
Whoever is spreading this, is going to look like a fool when the truth gets
out, and it may have repercussions. Of course, everyone is trying to force
me to take sides, which I steadfastly refuse to do. But pray for me because
this dishonest rumor angers me.

And the facts:

Here are some facts:

1. There were Secret service staff and Saddleback staff with McCain, and there was no way McCain could have listened to anything without being seen. There were cameras on him when he arrived.

2. "When I said 'cone of silence' I was obviously being silly - the crowd
laughed at the obvious metaphor reference to Get Smart. But Senator McCain
was put in a green room in a DIFFERENT BUILDING without any contact.

3. Chuck Taylor, Saddleback staff member DISCONNECTED the TV from the source as part of creating a silent green room. If anyone had even tried to turn the TV in that room all they would have got was static!

Some of these "McCain cheated" stories are taking on a familiar tone.  They remind me of the "Bush lied, thousands died" line that accompanied opposition to the Iraq War.  There are people who simply cannot believe it when someone they disagree with appears intelligent and well-informed.  They live their lives convinced that anyone whom they oppose must inherently be "stupid."  And so they generate conspiracy stories whenever anything shakes their juvenile world.  That, I'm afraid, is what we are seeing here.

August 19, 2008.