McCain's Hagee Rejection Shows Evangelical Outreach Was A Ruse

John McCain's rejection of John Hagee's endorsement today is the starkest example yet of McCain's ham handed approach to dealing with the Christian Right and with handling religious matters generally. It's a striking contrast to era of George W. Bush, whose political rise was largely a result of having mastered Christian Right and evangelical outreach, in connecting with believers personally and mobilizing them organizationally.

McCain's deficiencies in those areas also contrast sharply with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, whose sophisticated campaigns to win evangelical, Catholic, Jewish, and other religious voters just four years after John Kerry refused to engage in faith-based organizing and messaging suggest that both learned more from Bush about religion's role in American politics than McCain did.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[pascaljim]

He yesterday topped it all by appearing on The Ellen Show, endorsing Gay Marriage.....!!!

[tel8034]

POETIC JUSTICE ........ That's what McCain gets for trying to make a mountain out of a molehill with Rev. Wright.

McCain, Clinton and the MSM tried their endeavour best to try to link Obama to Rev. Wright's words ....They said that Obama/Wright was one in the same ..... Obama said over and over again in effect that he was being found "guilty by association".

Now McCain is using the SAME argument that he should not be found guilty by association, yet he still wants us to believe that Obama is STILL GUILTY .......... HYPOCRISY AND DOUBLE STANDARDS.

McCain needs to explain why when EVEN FOR 40 YEARS Americans knew of Hagee and McCain's other "pastors" comments and views, and although McCain knew what they were all about, he ACTIVELY PURSUED THEIR ENDORSEMENTS (even after he said a few years back that the views they held were INTORABLE)........ McCAIN SOUGHT THEM OUT AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

McCain now understands that "WHEN YOU SPIT IN THE WIND, IT ALWAYS COMES BACK TO HIT YOU YOUR FACE".

[HollywoodBill]

Nothing ever pleases the whacked out Revival Tent Republicans anyway. They had a hot line to Rove and Bush for the past 8 years and it's still hasn't been enough. They have hijacked the Republican Party, caused it to go down big in the '06 midterms and they still haven't learned that their theocratic brand of politics only plays in the Bible Belt. It is high time that McCain cut these snake handlers loose and let the chips fall where they do. By McCain denouncing these agents of intolerance, he strengthens his hand with Independents and Moderates.

[DesertLight]

Replied this all day yesterday. It was only ever a McCain ruse to pander to the Evangelical vote. It didn't work. There are far better choices out there than Hagee. As usual, if given the choice McMaverick will pick the wrong one.

[sandiegoconservative]

So let me get this straight.

McCain rejecting an endorsement when it comes out that this moron made some dumb comments about Hitler demonstrates pandering, and if he kept the endorsement, it would also be pandering, plus it would be sugested he endorsed the views.

Meanwhile, Obama seeking the endorsement of Wright was not pandering and we cannot assume he took on the views of Wright despite sitting in his congregation for years, whereas McCain did not sit in Hagee's congregation. And only after intense scrutiny, Obama distances himself from Wright, yet that does not show pandering?

Yeah, makes perfect sense.

I would be interested to know if there is ANYTHING McCain could do that libs would not have an objection with. I highly doubt there is.

[ejay579]

This is the beauty of running against J. Sidney McShame. "L" etched on his forehead.

[anthonylee]

One thing . . . . say "Uncle"?

He's got no economic platform, no foreign policy platform that differs from the current administration, he's old, he doesn't have the confidence of the RNC, he has a love affair with lobbyists, he's a walking contridiction of the 2000 Election cycle, etc., etc, etc. . . . so the "ANYTHING", that you doubt exists, that is not objectionable to Progressive, middle of the road Liberals . . . is to just give up and say "Uncle".

[BadCompany]

I will not object at all when McBomb loses.
And, as a matter of fact, I really like it when he's nasty and condescending to the paultard wing of the GOP.

[izAriver]

"...Obama seeking the endorsement of Wright..."

Never happened. That's one of the big differences and shows that you're not interested in the truth, just the spin.

[harriscrl3]

Duh your clue should have been when he did NOT show up at that Faith base discussion with Hilary and Obama and he was INVITED. McCain is a panderer I suspect Hilary is too Obama seems to be the one most genuine about his faith.

Carol

[DesertLight]

I printed that a million times yesterday. He didn't fool me at all.

[anthonylee]

Dubya and McCain are cut from the same cloth . . . . problem is - Dubya surrounded himself with "experts" and "strategists" from the Neo-Con/Chicken Hawk branch of Conservatives, McCain however has not engendered similar dedicated "ideologues" to his camp, nor has he any specific "branch" affiliation in the party.

I can't believe the RNC is just watching McCain flounder like this . . . . . who's running the RNC? Has Dubya really done such irreversible damage to the Conservative "Brand" that they can't help or salvage the principled platforms of the Reagan era?

Sad, just really, really sad.

[AMJordan]

Goodness gracious. McCain just shot himself in the foot, again.