On a day off from his run for the US presidency, Republican Senator John McCain went to a mountaintop to sit down with renowned evangelist Billy Graham and his son, Franklin.
Meanwhile, Democrat Senator Barack Obama went to the gym, took his daughters to play basketball and sat in the barber’s chair for “a regular clipper cut.”
Obama was to return to the campaign trail yesterday with an appearance in Independence, Missouri. McCain was scheduled to spend today and tomorrow in Cartegena, Colombia, before traveling on Thursday to Mexico City.
McCain is working to convince skeptical conservative Republicans and evangelicals — who strongly backed US President George W. Bush — that he can be counted on as a reliable shepherd of their social agenda against abortion and gay marriage.
The powerful evangelical community’s support will be critical if McCain is to extend his party’s hold on the White House.
The Arizona senator grew up Episcopalian and attended an Episcopal high school in Virginia, but now attends Baptist services.
While McCain said in advance that his trip to the Graham compound — Little Piney Cove in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina — was not political, his meeting with the religious leaders and a photo of the session was bound to solidify his credentials with the important group of Republican voters.
“We had a very excellent conversation. I appreciated the opportunity to visit with them,” McCain said after the 45-minute meeting.
McCain is acquainted with the elder Graham, who is 89 and in poor health, but it was their first time to sit down together.
Franklin Graham said his father, who routinely counseled both Republican and Democratic presidents, told a story about meeting McCain’s father, a Navy admiral, on a trip to Vietnam during the war when John McCain was being held prisoner in the north. He said both Billy Graham and McCain’s father had prayed for the captured fighter pilot during his captivity.
Franklin Graham, who said he was impressed with McCain’s “personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today,” agreed with McCain that their meeting was not political.
He said the meeting did not indicate he was endorsing anyone for president, but rather was urging “men and women of faith everywhere” to vote and be involved in the political process.
“I encourage people to vote for the candidate at every level who best represents their values and convictions, and then to pray for those in authority over us as required in Scripture,” he said.
McCain said he did not know if the Grahams would vote for him.
“I didn’t ask for their votes,” he said, calling them “great leaders.”
Obama met with the younger Graham last month as part of a session with a group of about 30 evangelical leaders in Chicago.
Obama spent his day off fitting in a 30-minute workout at a gym near his home. He then got a hair cut at the Hyde Park Hair Salon, where he’s been a customer for several years.
Barber Ishmael Alamin, who was working at the shop, said Obama got “a regular clipper cut.”
Obama returned home to pick up his daughters for a trip to the East Bank Club in Chicago’s River North neighborhood to play basketball. His wife, Michelle, joined them.
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