John McCain’s social conservative base is falling apart. He has a double-pastor problem. All the while, Barack Obama continues to reach out for thier votes.
It’s no secret that the evangelical voters are an important demographic to the GOP. And McCain has been wooing this group of voters for months. In his effort to court the evangelical vote, he sought out the endorsement of John Hagee, and called Rod Parsley a “spiritual guide.” McCain publicly rejected both Hagee and Parsley yesterday. However, the damage of this remains unknown. I found this blog post by David Corn on CQ Politics interesting.
Regular readers know that I broke the story about John McCain’s problematic political alliance with the Reverend Rod Parsley, the Ohio megachurch pastor who has declared that it is the historic mission of the United States to see the “false religion” of Islam “destroyed.” On Thursday, McCain–who had campaigned with Parsley in February and called him “one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide”–rejected Parsley’s endorsement. The repudiation was part of a twofer: at the same time, McCain dumped fundamentalist pastor John Hagee, who had called the Catholic Church “the great whore” and who had once said that Hitler’s mass-murdering of Jews was part of “God’s work.”
Hagee is a prominent pastor in Texas, and McCains rejection of his endorsement could cost him some votes. It seems McCain, who sought out Hagees endorsement with the intention of courting more evangelical votes, has fallen apart for him.
Parsley is the one who I think could pose the bigger problem for McCain. Parsley is considered a political powerhouse in Ohio, which is an important swing state. Ohio is a critical win for McCain in the general election. CQ politics blogger, David Corn said the rejection of Parsley may cost McCain the election in the fall.
And what is Barack Obama doing on the other hand? Well, in Iowa Tuesday he appeared with his wife and two daughters on stage. It was a pretty display reflecting family values. Obama has also jumped right into getting his message of his faith out to America. He continues to court the religious right, and has been consistently addressing his Christian faith.
It seems religion is coming into play a lot so far in this election. Who knows if we will end up seeing Hagee and Parsley sound bytes soon. Maybe people are digging for them as we speak. But as November nears, expect McCain to try and hold onto the conservative base, all the while Obama continues to get as many of thier votes as he can.
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1 Barack Obama » McCains Double-Pastor Problem & Obama Reaches Out to Social … // May 23, 2008 at 11:26 am
[…] Vote wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAnd what is Barack Obama doing on the other hand? Well, in Iowa Tuesday he appeared with his wife and two daughters on stage. It was a pretty display reflecting family values. Obama has also jumped right into getting his message of his … […]
2 Barack Obama » McCains Double-Pastor Problem & Obama Reaches Out to Social Conservatives // May 23, 2008 at 11:28 am
[…] wispundits.com - real thinking about political messaging and public affairs. welcome to our world. wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt John McCains social conservative base is falling apart. He has a double-pastor problem. All the while, Barack Obama continues to reach out for thier votes. It’s no secret that the evangelical voters are an important demographic to the GOP party. And McCain has been wooing this group of voters for months. In his effort to court the evangelical vote, he sought out the endorsement of John Hagee, and called Rod Parsley a “spiritual guide.” McCain publicly rejected both Hagee and Parsley yester […]
3 McCains Double-Pastor Problem & Obama Reaches Out to Social Conservatives | Politics in America // May 23, 2008 at 11:29 am
[…] winnipeg catholic worker community wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptCQ politics blogger, David Corn said the rejection of Parsley may cost McCain the election in the fall….I found this blog post by David Corn on CQ Politics interesting…. […]
4 McCains Double-Pastor Problem & Obama Reaches Out to Social ... // May 23, 2008 at 11:52 am
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5 test » Blog Archive » McCains Double-Pastor Problem & Obama Reaches Out to Social … // May 23, 2008 at 4:14 pm
[…] The Bear wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptJohn McCains social conservative base is falling apart. He has a double-pastor problem. All the while, Barack Obama continues to reach out for thier votes. It’s no secret that the evangelical voters are an important demographic to the … Read the rest of this great post here […]
6 My new WordPress MU Site » Blog Archive » McCains Double-Pastor Problem & Obama Reaches Out to Social … // May 23, 2008 at 8:31 pm
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptJohn McCains social conservative base is falling apart. He has a double-pastor problem. All the while, Barack Obama continues to reach out for thier votes. It’s no secret that the evangelical voters are an important demographic to the … […]
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