Dobson: "I Would Not Vote for John McCain Under Any Circumstances"

Bad news for John McCain. His very high profile attempts to make nice with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have not quieted the ire of James Dobson.

Dobson, who is not allowed to pass judgment on political candidates in his capacity as the head of a non-profit ministry, instead passes judgment as a private individual. Thus, we get sentences from a new article that include, "Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," and "Well, let me say that I am not in the office. I'm in the little condo so I can speak for myself and not for Focus on the Family... [but] I pray that we won't get stuck with him."

Does Dobson know that as America's most prominent evangelical leader, his thinking on politics is respected and sought out by thousands, maybe millions, of evangelical Christians? Of course. Is it legal for him to do this sort of wink-wink political punditry? Kind of, yeah. We addressed all this and more in our 2005 special issue called "God and Country: Where the Christian Right is Leading Us."

This all has to do with John McCain's former support of gay unions and abortion rights, and statements during the 2000 campaign that the leaders of the religious right are bad for America. Not easily undone, it seems.

(Hat Tip, AMERICAblog)

Update: For Dobson's place in the evangelical universe, see this nifty spread.