The Catholic Church is the "Great Whore" says McCain endorser John Hagee.

[pnwmom]

In return, John McCain says he is "very proud" of the minister's "spiritual leadership."

Despite the protests of both conservative and progressive Catholic groups, McCain continues to welcome Hagee's endorsement.

Just keep it up, McCain. Please keep it up -- and watch those Catholic swing voters swing back to the Democratic party.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/29/john-hagees-mccain-endor_n_89189.html

Calling Pastor John Hagee a "bigot," the conservative Catholic League is calling for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to denounce/renounce/reject his endorsement Wednesday.

With a Youtube link to prove his point, Catholic League president Bill Donohue said Hagee "has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example, he likes calling it 'The Great Whore,' an 'apostate church,' the 'anti-Christ,' and a 'false cult system.' ..."Senator Obama has repudiated the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, another bigot. McCain should follow suit and retract his embrace of Hagee." ...

McCain spox Jill Hazelbaker says, "Hagee endorsed John McCain. While we welcome his support, it shouldn't be seen as a wholesale endorsement of all of Mr. Hagee's views."

The progressive group Catholics United has also written a letter to McCain asking him to "publicly distance himself" from Hagee's views.

SNIP

[featherman]

1. Catholics are the largest religious denomination in the US

At 25% and growing with the increase in Hispanic population. And a classic "swing vote". Catholics voted 50-47 for Gore in 2000 but swung over to 52-47 for Bush in 2004 costing Kerry Ohio and Iowa in particular and the 2004 election in general.

Identifying the GOP in the minds of Catholic voters in the midwest and southwest as the party who embraces anti-Catholic bigots like Hagee should certainly be part of the Democratic Party's message this fall. The party of tolerance and ecumenicalism versus the party of bigotry and hate.

No brainer, IMHO

**The 2005 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reported the following figures, based primarily on 2003 denominational reporting data:
1. Roman Catholic Church: 67.2 million.
2. Southern Baptist Convention: 16.4 million.
3. United Methodist Church: 8.2 million.
4. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 5.5 million.
5. Church of God in Christ: 5.4 million.
6. National Baptist Convention USA: 5 million.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 4.9 million.
8. National Baptist Convention of America: 3.5 million.
9. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): 3.2 million.
10. Assemblies of God: 2.7 million.

[pnwmom]

2. I agree, it's a no-brainer.

And now we just need to hope that McCain himself continues to show no brains.

[DesertFlower]

3. agreed. nt

[Leopolds Ghost]

4. I don't see Brian Williams and Tim Russert asking him to denounce and repudiate Hagee n/t

[Swamp Rat]

5. yep