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June 09, 2008

McCain SNUBS Billy Graham and Will NOT Meet With Him

McCain Campaign Declines to Meet with Billy Graham

newsmax for complete article

In another disturbing sign that Sen. John McCain has little interest in reaching out to his conservative base, including evangelical Christian voters, his campaign has declined an offer to meet with the Rev. Billy Graham.

For almost six decades, Graham has been America’s most influential preacher and evangelist, a man sought out by every president since Harry Truman.

Today, the 89-year-old Graham is in declining health and stays near his home in Montreat, N.C. His last public appearance, in May 2007, marked the dedication of his library. Three former American presidents -- Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton -- were on hand to honor Graham.

While meetings with ministers have caused their fair share of controversy in this election cycle, we thought it was worth a try to bring McCain together with America’s most celebrated preacher.

McCain’s campaign responded to Jacobs with the following letter dated June 3, 2008:

"Dear Mr. Jacobs,

Thank you for your kind letter offering to set up a personal meeting between Senator McCain and Dr. Billy Graham.

Senator McCain appreciates your invitation and the valuable opportunity it represents.
Unfortunately, I must pass along our regrets and do not foresee an opportunity to add this event to the calendar.

I know you will understand that with the tremendous demands on his time and the large volume of similar requests, events such as this are extremely difficult to schedule even though each one is important. However, we will keep your event in mind should an opportunity present itself in the future.

I know that the Senator would want me to thank you for your interest and to send his very best wishes.

Sincerely,
Amber Johnson
Director of Scheduling
John McCain 2008 "

The rejection of an offer to meet with Graham is yet another indication that the McCain campaign has made a deliberate, strategic decision to chart a new course for the GOP, a course without the sizeable evangelical Christian voting bloc serving as its base.

The new course is likely designed to pick up disaffected Democrats, even Sen. Hillary Clinton’s women supporters, who are pro-choice.

The danger for McCain is in his campaign’s failure to grasp the size of the born again vote. Latest surveys show that fully 42 percent of all Americans claim to be “born again.”

But the risk is not just that the Republican nominee will lose evangelical voters but that he will lose its massive infrastructure: megachurches with their schools, television programs and massive mailing lists which traditionally play a crucial role for Republicans in voter registration and voter turnout. The cost to the party of replicating this role themselves would be incalculable.

McCain’s new course is a stunning turnabout for the GOP. In the summer of 1980, Ronald Reagan reached out to evangelicals gathered at the Religious Roundtable in a Dallas, Texas, saying to his audience of 10,000, “I know you can’t endorse me, but I want you to know that I endorse you.” It marked the beginning of a GOP relationship with evangelicals that became a winning coalition for three presidents.

Wild Thing's comment........

OK this is something that makes me feel badly personally. I know Billy Graham, he stayed at my parents home when I was growing up. I went to school with one of his daughers. He is one of the finest men. sigh McCain must have monsters inside his head to allow his team person to say no to this meeting. Maybe it is because Billy Graham met with President Bush ? And McCain is trying hard not to look like a Republican so he can keep getting more democrats to vote for him????? But you know what long ago Billy told my parents he was a southern democrat, much like the kind Zell Miller was. And remember that awesome speech Zell Miller made at the RNC convention? It was the best speech made at the entire convention!

I think this is the first time in my life I have seen a Republican candidate try so hard to give the middle finger to the Conservative base of his parrty.

This, on the face of it, seems just plain rude.

Rev. Graham is a fine man who has given his life to God and faith, here and all over the world. Billy Graham is one of the Great Men alive today. McCain is an ass.

Rev. Graham is probably the most apolitical evangelical pastor in modern American history. Unlike Jerry Falwell and James Dobson, Rev. Graham has mostly stayed out of politics. He’s a great man, a real living legend. I don’t know what’s worse—the fact that McQueeg won’t meet with him, or the fact that Democrats seem to think that meeting with Rev. Graham is some kind of negative thing!

UPDATE: This just in at Newsmax

McCain Hopes to Meet With Billy Graham

Newsmax

After a report on Newsmax.com indicated Sen. John McCain had rebuffed an offer to meet with the Rev. Billy Graham, the McCain campaign sought to clarify the matter.

Christian Ferry, McCain’s deputy campaign manager, tells Newsmax the campaign has been in the process of setting up a meeting between McCain and Graham.

Ferry said a misunderstanding of McCain’s intentions apparently arose because on June 3, 2008, the campaign sent what Ferry said was a routine letter declining an offer by Brian Jacobs, a Fort Worth, Texas, minister to broker a meeting between McCain and the evangelist.

Newsmax noted in its report that Jacobs had identified himself as a consultant to the Graham organization who had arranged a similar meeting between Graham and George W. Bush during the 2000 election.

In the June 3 McCain campaign letter, Amber Johnson, director of scheduling for the McCain, wrote to Jacobs, “Thank you for your kind letter offering to set up a personal meeting between Senator McCain and Dr. Billy Graham.

"Senator McCain appreciates your invitation and the valuable opportunity it represents [italics added by McCain campaign]. Unfortunately, I must pass along our regrets and do not foresee an opportunity to add this event to the calendar.”

Ferry said that despite the suggestion that the letter makes regarding no interest in such a meeting, the McCain campaign in fact had already been working with Graham’s son, Franklin Graham, to set up such a meeting.

....Thank you so much Mark for sending this Update to me.

Posted by Wild Thing at June 9, 2008 12:47 PM

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Comments

Posted by: cheryl zinsmeister at June 9, 2008 01:35 PM

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Posted by: OINK at June 9, 2008 02:29 PM

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Posted by: Les at June 9, 2008 04:09 PM

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Posted by: Wild Thing at June 9, 2008 04:18 PM

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Posted by: Wild Thing at June 9, 2008 05:54 PM

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Posted by: Lynn at June 9, 2008 07:40 PM

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Posted by: Dammit Woman at June 9, 2008 11:27 PM

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Posted by: Wild Thing at June 9, 2008 11:42 PM

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