Today, Republican presidential candidate John McCain distanced himself from the views of one anti-Catholic leader — John Hagee — while simultaneously seeking the support of another, Tim LaHaye. McCain was in New Orleans today to gain the support of the secretive right-wing Council for National Policy, whose co-founder LaHaye has a long history of religious intolerance, and specifically anti-Catholicism.

"McCain is trying to have it both ways," said Peter Montgomery, who oversees People For the American Way’s Right Wing Watch blog. "He wants the backing and political muscle of Religious Right leaders, but doesn't want to be associated with their extremism. He runs the risk of alienating Catholics and moderates by pandering for the support of the Religious Right."

In 1987, LaHaye was famously forced to resign just days after signing up as national co-chair of Jack Kemp's presidential campaign when the Baltimore Sun revealed numerous anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish statements in LaHaye's writings. For instance, LaHaye called Catholicism a "false religion" and said the Jews "brought the judgment of God upon themselves and their land" by rejecting Jesus.

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