Sen. John McCain, struggling to connect with conservative evangelical voters, paid a visit on two of the most influential and respected religious leaders in the Christian community today. He met with Rev. Billy Graham and the heir to his evangelical association, Rev. Franklin Graham, at the Grahams' family compound in North Carolina today. McCain needs to hold on to evangelicals, traditionally Republican voters, to win the White House. But he has not been fully embraced by them, and has even seen some resistance to his campaign from powerful Christian conservatives like Dr. James Dobson, the head of the evangelical group Focus on the Family.

The meeting did not produce an endorsement for McCain, but it is unclear whether the Arizona Senator was seeking one. Franklin Graham issued a statement praising McCain and saying that he was, "impressed by [McCain's] personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today." Billy Graham publicly thanked McCain for his, "long and brave service" to the country. McCain had words of adulation for the Grahams as well, calling Billy Graham, "a man whose family is respected, incredibly respected," and noting that the Graham family, "transcends politics in America. McCain sought to downplay the possibility of an endorsement before meeting the Grahams, saying, "there certainly is no political aspect to the meeting that I will have."

Evangelical Christians have been a staple of Republican electoral victories since at least 1980, when President Ronald Reagan won his first of two terms. With Governor Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, running in the Republican primary, evangelicals have not really had a chance to connect with McCain or his campaign. Many also remember the speech McCain gave at the end of his failed bid for the Republican nomination in 2000. In that speech, McCain called out conservative Christian leaders like the late Rev. Jerry Falwell and Rev. Pat Robertson and accused them of undermining his campaign. McCain has since moved to patch up those old wounds, meeting with Falwell before his death and speaking at his Liberty University. The meeting with the Grahams is certainly designed to place McCain in the company of well-respected religious leaders in the hopes of putting any remaining animosity between the candidate and a potentially decisive block of voters to rest.