So why is Mr. Warren covering for the president by suggesting that nixing the forum was Mr. Warren’s idea? The pastor’s claim that the race has become too uncivil seems more than a little odd. Has it deteriorated significantly since July, when Mr. Warren issued his invitation?  

Rick Warren, who leads the seventh-largest church in the country, has canceled the presidential forum to which he had invited President Obama and Mitt Romney. Citing the political climate, the pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., told the Orange Country Register that “it would be hypocritical to pretend civility for one evening only to have the name-calling return the next day.”

But the reasons for cancelling the forum—which was supposed to be similar to the one that Mr. Warren held four years ago for Mr. Obama and John McCain—remain unclear.    CNN reported that neither campaign was particularly interested in making the appearance. The Romney campaign wouldn’t comment on the record, while the Obama campaign told Politico that the president would not appear with Mr. Romney at any point before the debates.

Four years ago, Mr. Obama had every reason to jump at the chance to attend such a forum. He was trying to shake off his association with Jeremiah Wright and wanted to reach Mr. Warren’s megachurch audience, which includes not only the more hard-core religious right but also political independents. The forum served to humanize Mr. Obama. And, with the exception of his infamous answer to the question about when a fetus gains human rights—it’s “above my pay grade”—he seemed fairly middle-of-the-road on the social issues.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The source for this document was originally published on online.wsj.com – however, the original URL is no longer available.]