Trailhead: A campaign blog.

Lieberman Defends Hagee

Sen. Joe Lieberman has been taking some heat on the blogs ever since Huffington Post reported that he will be headlining Pastor John Hagee’s annual Christians United For Israel conference this July. Lieberman, like McCain, has praised Hagee in the past for his support of Israel. But recent remarks about Hitler being sent by God to drive the Jews out of Europe—on top of earlier comments about the Catholic Church—forced McCain to reject Hagee’s endorsement. But Lieberman has remained on the bill for the conference.

Lieberman has posted a statement explaining his decision. Here it is, in full:

I believe that Pastor Hagee has made comments that are deeply unacceptable and hurtful. I also believe that a person should be judged on the entire span of his or her life's works. Pastor Hagee has devoted much of his life to fighting anti-Semitism and building bridges between Christians and Jews. The organization that he has helped build, Christians United for Israel, is a vital force in supporting the war against terrorism and defending our ally, Israel. I will go to the CUFI Summit in July and speak to the people who have come to Washington from all over our country to express their support of America and Israel, based on our shared eternal values and our shared contemporary challenges in the war against terrorism. At that conference, I will also make it clear that it is imperative that our language is always respectful and tolerant of all of our fellow citizens.

I can’t think of any good explanation for this, other than Hagee has naked photos of Joe Lieberman … eating shellfish.

Jeremiah Reich

John McCain finally rejected, denounced, and bused over Pastor John Hagee, whose remarks about the Catholic Church have been dogging McCain for months. The final straw was a sermon in which Hagee, citing the book of Jeremiah, called Adolf Hitler a “hunter” sent by God to drive the Jews back to Israel, which would pave the way for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The rejection was long overdue. In March, McCain drew fire over Hagee’s statements calling the Catholic Church “the great whore” and a “false cult system.” McCain said he disagreed with any comments “if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics,” but thought they were “taken out of context.” A McCain spokeswoman clarified: “While we welcome his support, it shouldn't be seen as a wholesale endorsement of all of Mr. Hagee's views.” But McCain did not reject his endorsement until now.

So what changed? You could argue the Hitler shout-out was the deciding factor—any time a supporter drops the H-bomb, he or she becomes radioactive. But take a look at demographics McCain needs to win in the general.

In Florida, a key battleground state, McCain can count on the support of Catholics no matter what. He won 40 percent of the GOP Catholic vote in the primary there (Obama won 22 percent in the Democratic race), and Florida’s Hispanics have voted Republican in the last few presidential elections. McCain’s stance on immigration makes him especially popular among that group. Despite criticism from Catholic leaders over Hagee’s remarks, McCain is unlikely to lose that demographic.

Jews are a different story. Florida Jews are famously skeptical of Barack Obama, particularly on his support of Israel. (Rep. Robert Wexler called Southern Florida “the most concentrated area in the country in terms of misinformation” about Obama.) Hence Obama’s ongoing courtship of Jewish leaders and recent visits to Boca Raton and Miami. McCain, by contrast, is seen as unwaveringly hawkish when it comes to Israel. As one older Jewish Floridian told the New York Times, “The people here, liberal people, will not vote for Obama because of his attitude towards Israel. They’re going to vote for McCain.”

In other words, now would be a bad time for McCain to risk alienating Jewish voters. At a certain point, the harm of Hagee's remarks starts to outweigh his popularity among evangelicals.