Last Saturday, pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, did what no one else has yet accomplished. He brought the presumptive GOP and Democratic presidential nominees onto the same stage to discuss their views. It’s a sign of religion’s importance in the 2008 presidential campaign. The event, back-to-back one-hour interviews at Warren’s California megachurch, was broadcast live on CNN and streamed on the Web. It also represents the emergence of a new style of evangelical leadership on the national stage, which is not tied to a single party and has broadened its social agenda beyond that of the religious right.
