Gingrich Courts Incendiary Pastor Renounced by McCain in '08

[Judi Lynn]

Gingrich Courts Incendiary Pastor Renounced by McCain in '08

Why's Newt holding a tête-à-tête with a controversial evangelical leader who's bashed Catholicism?

— By Tim Murphy

Tue Mar. 15, 2011 12:01 AM PDT

When Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) accepted the endorsement of Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee in 2008, the result was a PR disaster. After critics pointed to Hagee's incendiary views on gays (whom he held responsible for Hurricane Katrina) and Catholicism (which he described as a "false cult"), the Arizona Republican called Hagee's views "crazy and unacceptable" and renounced the endorsement.

But three years later, Hagee is once more involved in Republican presidential politics. Later this month, he'll host former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a 2012 aspirant, at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. For the candidate and the pastor, the summit is a chance for two controversial figures to help each other back into the spotlight—though a Hagee spokesman says the pastor has no plans to endorse Gingrich.

"Every so often pops up like a Whac-A-Mole and then goes away again," says Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, who was part of the anti-Hagee choir three years ago. "Why does someone like Newt Gingrich feel like he has to have a public association with this person? Clearly it's about politics."

After the 2008 endorsement controversy died down, a longtime Karl Rove ally, Deal Hudson, helped to make peace between Hagee and his loudest conservative critic, Catholic League President Bill Donohue. Hudson, who chaired George W. Bush's Catholic outreach efforts in 2000 and 2004 before taking a similar role with McCain, reached out to both Hagee and Donohue. A former Southern Baptist, Hudson met with Hagee and gave him a collection of books about Catholicism. A few months later, and after a brief correspondence with Donohue, Hagee and his wife showed up at the Catholic League's offices for a meeting to clear the air.

More:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/newt-gingrich-john-hagee

[tanyev]

1. Wait, aren't Newt and his 3rd mistress/wife devout Catholics?

Devout being a relative term in this case, of course.

[polmaven]

2. OK, so...

gay marriage is a definite no-no, but frequent marriage is A-Ok. Do I have that right? It is really getting hard to keep up with the new rules.

[pscot]

3. Newt must be hard up for friends

I think his approval rating among Repukes is around 12%.

[burning rain]

4. Newt's smart enough that he knows he has to appeal to a section of the Christian vote.

Christers are a huge Republican constituency in the Iowa caucuses, and Gingrich can't afford to get shut out among them. He's not going to draw those who care about personal rectitude, so his best bet may be to appeal to God's Angry Christians who care dick-all what you do in your personal life, so long as you're good 'n' hateful on culture wars issues. Of course, this is no formula for a general election, but I don't think that Newton can afford to think that far ahead.