ABC's McFadden Implies John McCain Has No Character

Cynthia McFadden didn't exactly say John McCain had no character, but she certainly implied it. In an interview with Pastor Rick Warren on ABC's "Nightline," McFadden was trying to get Warren to indicate if he would counsel his flock on who to vote for, and what he would say to people who say "forget character," pick the pro-lifer.

The feature on Warren came after the pastor's Civic Forum on the Presidency held over the weekend at his 22,000-member church in southern California. McFadden asked Warren if he "owed" it to "people who look up to you" to tell them for whom he was voting .

Warren: No, and the reason why is -- I think they're smart enough on their own. I don't think anybody needs anybody else telling them who to vote for.

McFadden: So if somebody comes to you and says, you know what, forget character, I'm going to vote for the guy who is opposed to abortion, would you say they need to go back and think a little harder?

Warren flinched when McFadden asked the question. The wording is such that Obama is cast as the man with character since the forum provided viewers with the clear answer on which candidate is opposed to abortion, and McFadden had played both candidates' answers to the question of when babies get human rights.

The slam against McCain came near the end of the interview which was wide ranging and touched on Warren's opinion of Jeremiah Wright, the timing of McCain's divorce and marriage to his second wife, and whether Warren's forum was a "sham" since he was an evangelical and "most evangelicals overwhelmingly are registered as Republicans and support John McCain."

For the record, Warren revealed he was a registered Independent.