by Thomas Pierce

McCain and Obama have agreed to appear together before the conventions begin in August — but not in one of the town hall meetings proposed by McCain last month. The New York Times is reporting that the Rev. Rick Warren has convinced the two presidential candidates to briefly appear together before back-to-back interviews at Saddleback Church, his megachurch in Lake Forest, California:

"I just got to thinking, you know what? These guys have never been together on the same stage, it would be a neat way to cap the primary season before they both go to the conventions and things go dark for a couple of weeks," he said. "I've known both the guys for a long time, they're both friends of mine, and I knew them before they ran for office, so I just called them up."

He said that both had readily agreed, perhaps reflecting how each candidate is courting the evangelical audience to whom Mr. Warren ministers.

I asked NPR's Religion Correspondent, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, for her take on this development. She says that if any evangelical leader could bring the candidates together, it's Warren — mainly because of his appeal to both conservative and liberal factions of the evangelical movement. He's pro-life, for example, but he also believes that the church should play an active role in combating AIDS in Africa. As Pat Robertson and James Dobson lose influence, Warren is becoming America's pastor.

Two months before Obama announced he was seeking the Democratic nomination, Warren invited the Senator to speak at a global AIDS summit at this church in California. Obama accepted.