Tickets to the Saddleback Church Obama/McCain Event

UPDATE: Obama Tried to Impress Rick Warren, McCain Tried to Impress the Voters.
UPDATE: Some thoughts on "compassion" in advance of the Saddleback Civil Forum.
SOUR GRAPES UPDATE - Obama camp hints that McCain cheated.

The first time John McCain and the Obamessiah will appear together in an issues forum will be Saturday, August 16, at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion, the church where I'm still a member. It will not be a debate, but a separate 1 hour Q&A between each candidate and Pastor Rick Warren.

Frankly, I have no interest in attending since the candidates will never appear together to discuss the issues, and listening to 2 hours of focus-grouped responses on compassion issues is a sure cure for insomnia. However, many people are interested in attending and the church has made arrangements for a variety of ways in which the membership might be able to score a ticket. This was the email sent to all church members:

August 6, 2008

Dear Saddleback Family,

TICKETS FOR THE AUGUST CIVIL FORUM

Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to our church survey asking for your ideas on distributing the tickets for our August Civil Forum with John McCain and Barack Obama. We received thousands of suggestions!

WHAT WE HEARD FROM YOU:

Our congregation has over 100,000 attenders and members, but we only have about 5,000 seats available!
-Some of us cannot afford to pay anything.
-Most are eager to pay any amount to be a part of history and help cover the costs.
-Many suggested that some tickets be given to honor those who've faithfully served and sacrificed for our church family for years. The most mentioned were our charter members, our children's and student ministries volunteers, and those who serve us as small group hosts.
-Some suggested we provide some free tickets to poor students from different schools to encourage learning about the American political system. (We will do this for a small number.)
-Over 75% of you said we should charge for the seats in the Worship Center since the event is not a worship service.
-Many pointed out that February 17, 2009 is the last day of "analog" television broadcasting in America. After that date, all broadcasting will be required to be in digital format, so Saddleback needs to upgrade to new digital cameras. (Our 15 year old cameras are analog.)

YOU MAY APPLY FOR 5 TYPES OF TICKET DRAWINGS:

You can place your name in as many drawings as you like.

DRAWING A: For FREE seats in Video Venues (Refinery, Tent 2, and Tent 3)

DRAWING B: Charter members who joined between 1980-84, Small Group Hosts, and Volunteers who serve in children’s or student ministries may apply for the drawing of FREE seats in the worship center.

DRAWING C: To buy a $500 Bleacher seat in the Worship Center.

DRAWING D: To buy a $1,000 Angled Floor seat in the Worship Center.

DRAWING E: To buy a $2,000 Front Center seat in the Worship Center.

You may apply online here or by phone at (949) 609-8082. However, online applications will be processed FIRST. Call ONLY if you DO NOT have email or internet access.

If your name is drawn for any of these groups we will contact you with instructions.

THE DEADLINE TO APPLY IS 8AM, FRIDAY, AUGUST 8.

Apply right now!

Pastor Rick

I didn't include the link because if you don't have a member ID on their website you can't get into the application. I just thought this whole process was kind of interesting.

UPDATE 8/12: CNN and Fox will broadcast the Saddleback Snoozefest live from 8-10pm ET. I don't think it will beat the Olympic coverage on NBC.

UPDATE : Orange County Democrats want affirmative action plan so their members can attend.