The Wright kind of vetting of Hagee and Parsley

Huff Post and CNN report that McCain has repudiate, and rejected the endorsement of controversial (yet popular) Pastor and Christian Zionist John Hagee, as well as repudiated and rejected the endorsement of Islamophobe Rod Parsley.

"Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well."

He later said to the press again about Parsley,
"I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America, and I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn't endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement."

So finally these Pastors get the kind of vetting that Obama's pastor, the Rev Wright received earlier in this campaign.

According to CNN after McCain's rejection of Hagee's endorsement, Hagee retracted his saying:
"I am tired of these baseless attacks and fear that they have become a distraction in what should be a national debate about important issues."
That of course is a statement and argument that should be all to familiar because it's what the Obama camp said about Wright. Hagee went on to say, "I have therefore decided to withdraw my endorsement of Sen. McCain for president effective today, and to remove myself from any active role in the 2008 campaign."

Criticism is being fired at McCain because he sought both of these mens' endorsements for purely political reasons. No one claims to know the depth of shared values as many have claimed to know about Obama and Wright (which is how many Republican strategist and talking heads are trying to spin it as a non comparison), but there's enough outrage at the findings that Campaign 2.0 has vetted these people to initiate what could be a fundamental shift in the role of Religion in Politics.

Notice I did not say diminish, but shift - shifting importance away from endorsements by notorious Theocon Figureheads, Pastors and Priests and more to the Candidates own story and religious experience so that they can connect one on one to the voters instead of relying on the theocons, forgive the pun, to shepherd the flocks into the respective camps.

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