CNN (relevant part of interview at about 1:20) and the New York Times are reporting that John McCain was not in the “cone of silence” that Rev. Rick Warren suggested he would be in for part of the time of the hour Barack Obama took questions from the pastor.  As you can see in the CNN interview, Rev. Warren admits as much.  It turns out that McCain’s motorcade was stuck in traffic and was about half an hour late in arriving to Saddleback Church.

The story has spread throughout the news media and blogosphere, and as you can see, it has raised questions on whether McCain or his staffers had access to the questions being asked of Obama.  I’m going to say that even if McCain had the opportunity to access the questions, he didn’t try to do it.  I think McCain has more integrity than that.

Yes, the ability to find out what’s being asked ahead of time is certainly tempting.  Yet, I’ve always seen McCain to be a man of integrity, even if I don’t agree with many of his positions.  I also don’t like the Rovian “attack the character and raise fear, doubt, and uncertainty” style his campaign has taken, but Barack Obama is certainly no saint here either.

Some bloggers have suggested the reason that McCain was so much more prepared sounding and direct in his answers is because he knew what was going to be asked ahead of time.  Yet, I’d counter that argument by saying that one-on-one forums are McCain’s forte.  He doesn’t do well with prepared speeches, and it shows.  Likewise, Obama doesn’t do well with off-the-cuff forums like this, and it shows, too.  McCain and Obama showed two vastly different styles last night, as I’ve already discussed.  Also, even if he did have access, half an hour is hardly sufficient time to prepare specific answers.  Not nearly enough time.  Warren explains in the CNN interview that both candidates had a ballpark idea of what was going to be asked, since Warren gave them the themes that would be covered.  So, they both had time to prepare…several days before the forum.

Elrod at TMV ponders the coin toss that gave Obama the first hour, wondering how it could have been done if McCain wasn’t there at the time to participate.  My answer is that it occurred well before the forum took place.  When Elrod posed this question, I instantly remembered seeing sometime during the afternoon on Saturday about how the coin toss decided that Obama would go first.  This was hours before the forum started.  This San Francisco Chronicle article seems to back me up.  Though the dateline shows Saturday, it appears to have originally been written sometime on Friday.

McCain’s campaign said he offered to hold a live town-hall meeting with Obama at the event, but that invitation was turned down. Instead, as the result of a coin toss, Obama will speak to the audience first, followed by McCain.

Since I’m defending John McCain, and expect to be labeled a “die hard McCain supporter” or equivalent by the usual suspects, I’ll end on this note: if Obama had been in the same position as McCain, I’d give the same argument for him.