Posted on 06/09/2008 10:19:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Newsmax.com reports of a rejection by John McCain to meeting with Dr. Billy Graham have been refuted by representative of both the McCain Campaign and the Billy Graham Association.
Journalist Doug Wead caused a big stir on Newsmax.com last night when he posted a story that the McCain campaign had turned down an opportunity to meet with Billy Graham.
Wead wrote, “In recent weeks I have been involved with Brian Jacobs, a Fort Worth, Texas, minister and consultant to the Billy Graham Association, to broker a meeting between McCain and Graham. In May, we contacted the McCain campaign with an offer to arrange such a meeting, as we had done between candidate George W. Bush and Graham during the 2000 election.”
The report included a letter to Jacobs, from McCain’s Director of Scheduling, Amber Johnson. The correspondence indicated that John McCain would not be taking advantage of the invitation to meet with Dr. Graham, who is in failing health.
Johnson wrote, “Unfortunately, I must pass along our regrets and do not foresee an opportunity to add this event to the calendar.”
Wead’s article posited a shift in the McCain strategy in order to draw Clinton pro-choicers and signaled a shift in the position of the G.O.P. with regard to Evangelical voters.
The blogs have been busy today with postings concerning this turn of events while news outlets checked with McCain staffers to see what is really taking place.
Mojo Blog, from Mother Jones news, had contacted the PR people for the Graham organization who indicated they didn’t know what was taking place.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholic.org ...
Since when is McCain supposed to be TRUSTED now, especially among conservatives on most issues? This is maverick McCain at his best.
Someone is doing the hundred-meter backpedal. But who?
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How can anyone trust Doug Wead? He’s the guy who secretly taped the president, then passed the tapes to the Press to make him look bad.
A senior miscommunication.
Doug Wead is a gadfly who seeks to put himself in the limelight. The story of McCain refusing to meet with Billy Graham didn’t pass the sniff test, to me, and this report confirms it.
Vet, the actual letter is posted on another thread. (Sorry, but I didn’t read far enough in your article to see if the actual letter is posted.) To me it sounded like the typical “blow off” letters written by “power people” to “we, the peons”. One of those “don’t call us, we’ll call you” kind of letters. Evidently, Rush read the letter the same way I did.
In the past, McCain has not been kind to the religious. I was really hoping he had gotten smarter. Now, imagine how bad it will be if OBAMA meets with Dr. Graham.
Newsmax.com reports of a rejection by John McCain to meeting with Dr. Billy Graham have been refuted by representative of both the McCain Campaign and the Billy Graham Association. Journalist Doug Wead......would fit right in at CBS? Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
Team Obama is playing the “religious card” on McCain. Kinda dangerous, don’t ya think?!
Well, Billy Graham has denied it. I hope you’d trust Rev. Graham.
Larry Ross, director of Media and PR for the Graham Association told Mother Jones, "It would be highly unusual and out of character for Mr. Graham to initiate such a meeting, and there has been no contact between the McCain campaign and his office.
“In fact, Mr. Graham has not met or been in contact with any candidates during the current primary process. If he had, it has been his personal policy through the years to avoid partisanship by meeting with representatives from both parties to address spiritual concerns.
"Upon further inquiry I understand that two people unaffiliated with either Billy or Franklin Graham apparently independently, without any knowledge by the [Billy Graham Evangelistic Association], tried to broker a meeting between Mr. McCain and the evangelist. Apparently it was their indirect and unofficial involvement that was declined."
From Ross’ response, Mother Jones’ conclusion was that the McCain campaign had not refused to meet with Graham but refused to agree to a meeting brokered by Brian Jacobs and Doug Wead.
I’m just saying that McCain is truly a very difficult person to trust on anything, so there will be problems with this kind of thing in the future with McCain.
Thank you Catholiconline for refuting that NewsMax story.
Without the truth ... ya aint got nuttin’
Obama’s going to have to run on negatives, because he can’t even remember his canned platitudes without a teleprompter.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2028625/posts?page=6#6
McCain stood by his endorsement of Wead. Wead then started making demands of McCain and other Republicans designed as Carte Blanche endorsement of Wead and repudiation of Goldwater. McCain hedged but refused to be bullied. Wead lost and the Arizona Republican Party convinced him that he would be a whole lot happier elsewhere.
I posted on that thread that it was a GARBAGE story, being hyped by NEWSMAX ala Scot McClellan style to get web hits.
This person is glad that McCain didn’t want to deal with Wead.
When McCain is wrong I’m against him, but this time I believe he is correct.
Newsmax made it up—simple as that.
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