McCain reaches out to conservative Christians, "is breaking down walls" [View All]

[Bluebear]

"Weathervane McCain" and Jerry Falwell.


VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is defending his outreach to conservative Christians, arguing that his effort is not political pandering to win the GOP nomination.

McCain met privately Monday with religious broadcasters in Orlando, Fla., then answered questions about his appeal to conservatives in Vero Beach.

In the 2000 campaign, McCain angered the party's right by calling evangelist leaders Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell "agents of intolerance." Last spring, he spoke at Falwell's Liberty University although hard feelings still linger among some conservatives. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson has said he won't support McCain...

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition said after McCain's private meeting in Orlando that he helped repair damage with Christian conservatives. "He recognized he cannot be president of the United States without reaching out to the evangelicals," Mahoney said. "There definitely is an uneasy relationship between McCain and people of faith, but he is reaching out and he is breaking down those walls. He helped himself in that room tremendously today."

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070221/25933_McCain_Defends_Christian_Outreach_Effort.htm