A week ago, God-o-Meter asked why there was no outcry over John Hagee’s endorsement of George W. Bush during his 2000 run for president, given all the controversy kicked up by Hagee’s John McCain endorsement, particularly over the evangelist’s harsh words for Catholics. God-o-Meter got its answer from Sarah Posner, who authors the American Prospect’s FundamentaList. Here’s what she said when GOM ran into her in Washington this week:

For the public at large, Hagee was an unknown figure in 2000. He was really well known in televangelism circles, but not to the public at large. He was well known in Texas and well known to [George W. Bush].
Then, in 2006, he launched Christians United for Israel. He had been involved in Christian Zionism issues for years before that. He had a night to honor Israel for at his church for something like 25 years. When he launched Christians United for Israel and simultaneously released his book Jerusalem Countdown, which provided the biblical prophesy basis for the war in Iran, that really got a lot of media attention. So he just became the face of the Christian Zionist movement, which is very controversial because of all his eschatological beliefs. It thrust him into the limelight.
So when he endorsed McCain, what was really remarkable to me was that the focus was on his anti-Catholic statements. I would not consider that a centerpiece of his Theology.

4