Arizona Sen. McCain works to mend his fences with Falwell.In an apparent effort to repair a damaged relationship with Religious Right leaders, U.S. Sen. John McCain For McCain's grandfather and father, see John S. McCain, Sr. and John S. McCain, Jr., respectively John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936 in Panama Canal Zone) is an American politician, war veteran, and currently the Republican Senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. (R-Ariz.) is reaching out to TV preacher Jerry Falwell This article is about Jerry Falwell, Sr. For the article about his son, see Jerry Falwell, Jr. Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. (August 11 1933 – May 15, 2007)[1] was an American fundamentalist Christian pastor and televangelist. . In an early March appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," McCain distanced himself from critical comments he made about the Religious Right during his 2000 presidential campaign. McCain told "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert Timothy John Russert, Jr. (born May 7, 1950) is an American journalist who has hosted NBC's Meet the Press since 1991. He is the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News, and hosts Tim Russert, a weekly interview program on MSNBC. that the Religious Right "has a major role to play in the Republican Party. One reason is because they're so active ... and their followers are. And I believe they have a right to be a part of our party. I don't have to agree with everything they stand for, nor do I have to agree with everything that's on the liberal side of the Republican Party." When McCain ran for the presidency in 2000, he criticized GOP opponent George W. Bush for courting the Religious Right and denounced Falwell as a fringe figure. "Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933), is the acting head of the Nation of Islam (NOI) as the National Reprensentative of Elijah Muhammad. He is well-known as an advocate for African American interests and a critic of American society. or Al Sharpton Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American Baptist minister and political, civil rights, and social justice activist.[1][2] In 2004, Sharpton was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U. S. presidential election. on the left or Pat Robertson Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22 1930)[1] is a televangelist from the United States.[2] He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations, including the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), or Jerry Falwell on the right," McCain said. Russert asked McCain if he still thinks Falwell is an agent of intolerance. McCain replied, "I do not." Russert also recalled McCain's remark that "Gov. Bush swung far to the right and sought out the base of support of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. That's--those aren't the ideas that I think are good for the Republican Party." The Arizona senator has already met with Falwell and is scheduled to speak at Liberty University's spring graduation ceremony. Falwell told The News & Advance, a Lynchburg, Va., daily, "We dealt with every difference we have. There are no real deal breakers now. But I told him, 'You have a lot of fence mending Noun 1. fence mending - social action to improve poor relations (especially in politics); "they moved forward from a period of fence mending to substantive changes in the country" social action - a social policy of reform (especially socioeconomic reform) to do.'" During his appearance on "Meet the Press," Russert asked McCain if he embraced the comments Falwell made shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At that time, the TV preacher claimed that God allowed the attacks to occur because of liberals, secularists and gays. McCain ducked the question and said he sometimes speaks at schools whose policies he disagrees with. |
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