McCain Won’t Meet With Billy Graham

Funny, he sought the endorsement of John Hagee and Rod Parsley, but has a problem with Billy Graham? Not that Graham is without his own controversies, but compared to the right-wing evangelicals who McCain has embraced, and vica versa, prior to mutual distancing, Graham should be a no- brainer. I disagree with the assessment by Newsmax that meeting with Graham signifies reaching out to the right-wing evangelical base. Graham has met with every president since Harry Truman.

Here is the letter from the McCain campaign to Brian Jacobs, who tried to set up the meeting on behalf of the Billy Graham Association.

Dear Mr. Jacobs,

Thank you for your kind letter offering to set up a personal meeting between Senator McCain and Dr. Billy Graham.

Senator McCain appreciates your invitation and the valuable opportunity it represents. [italics added by McCain campaign]

Unfortunately, I must pass along our regrets and do not foresee an opportunity to add this event to the calendar.

I know you will understand that with the tremendous demands on his time and the large volume of similar requests, events such as this are extremely difficult to schedule even though each one is important. However, we will keep your event in mind should an opportunity present itself in the future.

I know that the Senator would want me to thank you for your interest and to send his very best wishes.

Sincerely,

Amber Johnson
Director of Scheduling
John McCain 2008

Update: McCain’s camp denies there is resistance to meeting with Graham. McCain campaign spokesman Jeff Sadosky tells Fox News that they’ve been dealing with Graham’s office directly “for months.”

“Our campaign has been in continuous contact with Reverend Graham’s office and his son and we are working to set up meeting, but we will do so directly with Reverend Graham and not an intermediary,” Sadosky said.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.