McCain Says He Needs Evangelicals To Win

By David Brody

CBN News

March 19, 2007

CBNNews.com - Senator John McCain tells CBN News that he needs support from Evangelicals to win the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Aboard his Straight Talk Express bus in New Hampshire this weekend, McCain told CBN correspondent David Brody, "Oh, sure. I hope I would be given an assessment that would ignore some of the things that may give them some preconceived notion and would just give me an honest and fair assessment and most will."

READ DAVID BRODY'S BLOG NOTES FROM THE STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS

WATCH CLIP'S OF DAVID'S INTERVIEW WITH MCCAIN ON THE BRODY FILE

McCain also acknowledged that he hasn't been as outspoken as a senator on the right-to-life issue and that criticism from the pro-life community is valid. "I think there may be some legitimacy to that discussion. but I certainly think I have done my labor in the vineyards for 24 years. I have a 24-year solid, consistent pro-life voting record."

In keeping with his "big tent" philosophy, McCain told CBN News that he's trying to reach out to moderates, liberals and religious conservatives. He believes that his overtures toward key religious leaders are significant.

"I have had meetings with [Southern Baptist Convention President] Dr. Richard Land. I have met with Reverend Jerry Falwell. I have had good conversations with [Evangelical leader] Reverend [John] Hagee. There are many others. Now I have not had a conversation with Dr. [James] Dobson because he has said he prays that I will not be the nominee of the party. I'm not sure where we start the conversation."

McCain has had a rocky relationship with religious conservatives going back to 2000, when he branded the Reverends Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as "agents of intolerance." Many Evangelicals have been wary of McCain ever since.

Brody asked McCain, "Do you regret saying it? Do you feel like you need to apologize for it at all?"

McCain responded, "I'll give you some straight talk. I was angry after what happened. Many of them were traced directly to many in the Evangelical movement. Not overall, but there was a professor at Bob Jones University who told CNN that John McCain had to prove that he didn't father illegitimate children. That's not the way. So of course I was angry. And sometimes you say things in anger that you don't mean. But I have put that behind me. It's over. And it's something that happened, it's finished and I move forward not back."

McCain has always had a reputation as a maverick. His challenge in 2008 will be to maintain that independence, yet convince skeptical conservatives that he is still one of them. His positions on immigration and taxes are not popular in conservative circles. Additionally, McCain told CBN News that one of the main reasons conservatives are skeptical of him is because of the McCain/Feingold campaign finance law, which he championed through the Senate.

Evangelical leaders, along with many movement conservatives, complain that among other things, it limits their outreach.

"Some people in Washington did not like campaign finance reform. They didn't like it, and I'm going to give you some straight talk because it deprived them of some money. And I understand that it harmed their ability to carry out their agenda."

Be sure to watch David Brody's interview with U.S. Senator John McCain Tuesday on The 700 Club. Check your local listings for time and station.