Prometheus 6

A spokeswoman answers questions by referring to a statement Mr. McCain made the day after the endorsement, when it was greeted with a barrage of criticism: “In no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee’s views, which I obviously do not.”

Mr. Hagee also declines to discuss the endorsement, and in interviews and during a conference call with reporters on Monday, he would not even say how it had come about. “For the present time for many reasons,” Mr. Hagee said in an interview late last month, “it is better that I don’t comment on the campaign in any way.”

That's FAR less forthcoming than Obama and Wright have been...and also supports my own statement that Obama should not have backed away from Wright at all.

For McCain, Little Talk of a Controversial Endorsement
By NEELA BANERJEE

When Senator John McCain won the endorsement of the Rev. John C. Hagee in February, his campaign hoped it would shore up his conservative credentials among evangelicals and build enthusiasm among a voting bloc that would be critical for him in November.

But since then, Mr. Hagee has been on the defensive over some of his views about Catholics and Jews, and he and Mr. McCain’s campaign have been silent about his endorsement.

The controversial endorsement points to Mr. McCain’s tenuous relationship with conservative evangelicals, a group that President Bush courted with tremendous success and that Republicans have come to view as vital to their prospects in many states.

The McCain campaign sought Mr. Hagee’s support, Mr. Hagee said in a recent interview. But after the two announced the endorsement at an event on Feb. 27 in San Antonio, Mr. Hagee’s hometown, the campaign has stopped talking about it.