Addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Orlando, Barack Obama declared, "I will let no one question my love of this country."

Obama has felt the sting of recent attacks from conservative critics, and prominent Democrats have been pressuring him to hit back harder at John McCain.

Universal praise of John McCain's performance in their first joint appearance at Saddleback Church also has the Obama campaign on the defensive. But we believe the recent polls are tightening not because of Obama's failure to get tough. The race is tightening because Obama's worldview is coming into focus.

A worldview colors how a person sees situations; it reflects his approach to tackling difficult issues. Americans are starting to see the candidates' viewpoints, which are often diametrically opposed. There is a sharp contrast in the two men's philosophies, and their approach to answering questions is as different as night and day.

At the Saddleback Forum McCain spoke decisively, with clarity and confidence. On the other hand, Barack Obama waffled and vacillated.

Obama measured each word; trying to play it safe as if to make everyone listening happy. Either he doesn't know what he believes or Obama was trying too hard for approval. At times he rambled, speaking in abstractions rather than concretely as McCain did.

McCain told colorful stories, giving specific examples to make points. This helped to reach people by touching their hearts. One moving story he told concerned his time as a POW. One Christmas day, a guard drew a cross with his sandal on the dirt in the courtyard for McCain. "For a minute," he said, "there was just two Christians worshipping together. I'll never forget that moment."

We felt uncomfortable at one point when Obama described his wife Michelle belittling and berating him. Obama said any leader "needs somebody who can get in your face and say 'boy, you really screwed that one up. You really blew that.'" This made Obama seem weak and wimpy.

Especially telling was the question on evil. Obama said "we see evil all the time" and we need to confront it. However, taking the USA to task, he said, "[T]he one thing that I think is very important is for us to have some humility in how we approach the issue of confronting evil, because a lot of evil's been perpetrated based on the claim that we were trying to confront evil." Continued...