Political hazards of pastors

Obama, McCain both burned by controversial clergymen

Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, both seeking to use religion to their advantage in the presidential campaign, have learned painful lessons about the risks of getting too close to religious leaders.

Both now realize that sermons given to a narrow audience on Sundays don't always play as well on the national stage, where context can be a casualty. And McCain's rejection of endorsements from two evangelical pastors puts into relief the candidate's problems with that core GOP constituency.

McCain, the Republican nominee-in waiting, and Obama, who is closing in on the Democratic nod, both have been slowed by their respective pastor problems. Whether the controversies will play a role in the months ahead remains unclear, but the two candidates face decisions about how clergy fit into their efforts to reach voters informed by faith.

"This is the new terrain of religious politics," said David Domke, a University of Washington communications professor and co-author of "The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America."

"Politicians have been getting a pass on this for some time, using support from a minister or pastor for their political advantage and not having to answer for what that pastor has said," Domke said.

Both candidates have reason to pay attention to the faith factor in their White House bids.

Obama, facing false rumors that he is a Muslim, portrays himself as a committed Christian in campaign literature. Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton employ religious outreach directors and speak freely about their faith, signaling that Democrats will not cede the religious vote to Republicans.

But Obama has been hamstrung by the rhetoric of his former longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose sermons blaming U.S. policies for the Sept. 11 attacks and calls of "God damn America" for its racism became fixtures on the Internet and cable news networks. Obama ultimately cut himself off from Wright.

McCain has sought to shore up evangelicals skeptical about his stances on issues like stem-cell research and his past run-ins with movement leaders. But two evangelical pastors McCain did win over -- John Hagee of Texas and Rod Parsley of Ohio -- were tied to statements offending to all three monotheistic faiths.

Hagee has been criticized as anti-Catholic, but McCain rejected his endorsement only after a Web site unearthed a sermon Hagee gave portraying Hitler as a tool God used to deliver Jews to the promised land.

McCain disowned Parsley's endorsement after ABC News reported he had called Islam an "anti-Christ" religion and the Prophet Muhammad "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil."

"Religion can be so effective in mobilizing voters," said John Green, a senior fellow with the Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life. "It can also be particularly damaging if it turns out to be controversial."

McCain supporters say it's unfair to equate his endorsements with the Obama-Wright saga. Wright, after all, was Obama's pastor for 20 years, while neither Hagee nor Parsley ever were pastors to McCain.

Obama backers counter that a double-standard is at work if the pastors endorsing McCain aren't scrutinized, given that McCain sought them out and praised them as exemplary leaders.

"Wright attracted controversy over sermons and things he said in the context of his church and his tradition of black liberation theology," Green said. "It's the same thing with Hagee. His comments about Hitler and the Catholic Church are much less problematic in the context of his religious community."