McCain Intelligencer 2008 June 12

Endorsements: Rejected
McCain has rejected endorsements from Rev. John Hagee and Rev. Rod Parsley due to controversial statements made by the pastors (Luo). Though popular ministers, they hold views that are not necessarily representative of mainstream and evangelical Christians.

Voter Groups: Conservative Christians
McCain has been reaching out to conservative Christian groups, which strongly supported Bush in 2004 but have not warmed up to the senator. He has taken stands on issues important to these voters that sometimes agreed with them and sometimes didn’t (Luo)

War in Iraq
The “surge” in Iraq appears to be having good results: fewer American casualties and greater stability of the government. McCain has long been a promoter of the surge and the results would seem to support his policy and his potential to handle the war in the White House. Even so, a view that things are going badly in Iraq persists, including among independents (Baram).

Resources
Baram, M. (2008, June 9). Will good news in Iraq affect Obama vs. McCain? ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/Story?id=5017532&page=1, accessed June 9, 2008.

Luo, M. (2008, June 9). McCain extends his outreach, but Evangelicals are still wary. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/us/politics/09mccain.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin, accessed June 9, 2008.