Very interesting & I had thought the same thing, i.e., McCain's attempted cure was worse than disease -- ‘McCain made a mistake by disavowing pastors’

From the AJC's Political Insider:

Mark DeMoss, a conservative Christian public affairs specialist who served as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s liaison to evangelicals . . . [and] who operates out of Gwinnett County, makes three points:

— He’s now an unenthusiastic McCain supporter. “I told [the McCain campaign] I’m a conservative a first and a Republican second. I was inclined to vote for Senator McCain but not to get involved beyond that,” he said.

— McCain made a mistake when he recently disavowed two pastors with large television followings.

“The senator hurt himself by rejecting the endorsements of John Hagee and Rod Parsley in Texas and Ohio, and it was mistake to do that. Here were two conservative religious pastors who were probably out on a limb supporting him.… That was a slap in the face to evangelicals who are already somewhat suspect of Senator McCain,” DeMoss said.

— As many as 40 percent of evangelical voters may take a chance with Obama.

“You’re seeing some movement among evangelicals as the term [evangelical] has become more pejorative. There’s a reaction among some evangelicals to swing out to the left in an effort to prove that evangelicals are really not that right wing,” DeMoss said. “There’s some concern that maybe Republicans haven’t done that well. And there’s this fascination with Barack Obama.”