A leading evangelical supporter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain is blaming liberal blogs and the mainstream media for the Republican presidential nominee's decision to sever ties to pastor John Hagee.
Last week Senator McCain (R-Arizona) rejected the endorsements of evangelical mega-church pastors John Hagee and Rod Parsley. McCain's rejection of Hagee was prompted by the release of a late 1990s sermon recording, in which the Texas televangelist used a passage in the biblical book of Jeremiah to suggest that God allowed Hitler's Holocaust so the Jews could return to the land of Israel. According to McCain, the comments were "deeply offensive and indefensible." American Values president Gary Bauer, who has endorsed McCain and is also a founding member of Pastor Hagee's group Christians United for Israel, says left-wing blogs like the Huffington Post distorted Hagee's comments and put McCain on the defensive. "The only winner in all this has been the radical left and big media, who despise Senator McCain and also despise Pastor Hagee -- and not incidentally, [also] despise Israel," he contends. When all is said and done, Bauer continues, the other side has scored a victory. He says the left-wing blogs, including the Huffington Post, distorted Hagee's comments in order to "drive a wedge" between evangelical voters and McCain. Bauer says McCain was trying to "cut his losses," while Hagee withdrew his endorsement of McCain because it was a distraction that was hurting both himself and the Arizona senator. And even though Hagee and Parsley are no longer part of the team that has formally endorsed McCain, Bauer believes McCain is still not insulated from similar attacks by the "radical left."
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