(Saturday, Aug. 16, at 8 p.m. EDT, to be aired on CNN, MSNBC and Fox)

The forum will consist of an hour of questions to each candidate posed by the host, evangelical Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, author of the best-selling book,  The Purpose-Driven Life. According to Warren, "The primaries proved that Americans care deeply about the faith, values, character and leadership convictions of candidates as much as they do about the issues."

Warren is one of the new breed of evangelicals who care as much about social issues like poverty and AIDs as they do about the traditional hot-button issues, such as abortion and homosexuality, typically associated with the religious right. It's reported that Warren, who is anti-abortion in his own personal beliefs, is facing  intense lobbying from the traditionalists to press the candidates regarding their views on abortion. But Warren is said to be not particularly inclined to focus on abortion in this forum, “I will be raising questions ... beyond what political reporters typically ask. This includes pressing issues that are bridging divides in our nation, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights,” said Warren of the forum.

Obama may be able to do himself a lot of good with this. Not only does his participation undermine the "Obama is a Muslim" rumors, but he can make inroads with those younger evangelicals and religious independent voters who may not be entirely satisfied with McCain, and who are increasingly turning their attention to issues like the environment, poverty and education, areas where Obama should shine over McCain.