Washington, D.C. — John McCain’s campaign is pushing back on recent allegations that controversial Ohio pastor, Rev. Rod Parsley, serves as a “spiritual guide” for the GOP presidential nominee.

As Barack Obama continues to take heat for anti-American and racially divisive comments made by his longtime pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, some voices on the left are arguing that McCain should be receiving similar scrutiny for provocative remarks made by Parsley.

The Ohio-based religious leader has made a number controversial statements about Muslims, previously calling Islam an “anti-Christ religion” based on “deception.” In a recent book, he also wrote that the prophet Mohammad “received revelations from demons and not from the true God,” adding that “Allah was a demon spirit.”

According to the campaign, McCain met Parsley for the first time three weeks ago, when the pastor served as an introductory speaker at a February 26 rally in Cincinnati.

McCain praised most of the leaders in attendance, saying of Parsley: “I am very honored today to have one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide…thank you for your leadership and your guidance. I am very grateful you are here.” (Coincidence note: This was the same event of the infamous Bill Cunningham remarks)

A number of blogs and magazines (inc. here, here, and here) are citing the “spiritual guide” line to make the case that Parsley is an important influence for the Arizona Senator. International publications are also picking up on the endorsement–a headline in the Tehran Times this morning screams, “McCain advisor: Destroy Islam.”

A campaign official disputes that argument, adding that any comparison between the Wright and Parsley situations is “totally absurd.” The official notes that Rev. Wright married Obama, baptized his children and has served as his spiritual adviser for 20 years, whereas McCain received Parsley’s endorsement at one event and has never attended his service.

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Senator Barack Obama often talks about his church, the Trinity Church of Christ in Chicago, on the campaign trail. Normally he refers to the church to assure voters that he is Christian, not Muslim, a notion that has plagued the candidate along the campaign trail. Typically Obama says he has attended the church for 20 years and if one were to go, they’d find a “very conventional African American church” where you would hear gospel music and “people preaching about Jesus.” In Ohio just a few days ago, Obama told voters, “You would feel at home if you were there.”

Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright, who until just a couple weeks ago presided over Trinity’s congregation, officiated Senator and Mrs. Obama’s wedding and baptized their two daughters. In his first book, Dreams from My Father, Obama wrote the pastor had great influence over him in the 1990s, and it was Wright who delivered a sermon entitled “The Audacity of Hope,” which had such an impact on Obama, that he chose to use the phrase as the title of his second book. And, of course, hope continues to be a main theme of the Obama campaign.

But Obama’s pastor has also been a lightning rod for controversy. For starters, Wright’s relationship with Louis Farrakhan, one described as “close” by Senator Obama, has been of concern to many in the Jewish community.

On February 24th, Obama spoke to the Cleveland Jewish Community Leaders group, where he was asked about Wright. Obama noted the pastor occasionally was known to “say controversial things,” adding most of those controversial statements were “directed at the African American community.” Barely a week later, he explained why Wright said things that are considered controversial. “Because he’s considered that part of his social gospel. He was one of the leaders in calling for divestment from South Africa and some other issues like that, and he thinks it’s important for us to focus on what’s happening in Africa, and I agree with him on that.”

Obama assured the Ohio Jewish leaders, “I have never heard an anti-Semitic [statement] made inside of our church. I have never heard anything that would suggest anti-Semitism on part of the Pastor. He is like an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don’t agree with. And I suspect there are some of the people in this room who have heard relatives say some things that they don’t agree with.” He added, “My pastor is going to be retiring over the next month. So my general view, and the reason that I raise this, this is always a sensitive point, what you don’t want to do is distance yourself or kick somebody away, because you are now running for President and you are worried about perceptions, particularly when someone is basically winding down their life and their career.”

But the controversy hasn’t gone away - it’s now bigger and extends beyond the Jewish community. In some of his sermons, Wright has said some pretty shocking things, including inflammatory remarks about both rival Hillary Clinton and the United States, as revealed by FOX News and other networks.

A campaign spokesman issued a statement to reporters, reading, “Senator Obama has said before that he profoundly disagrees with some of the statements and positions of Reverend Wright, who has preached his last sermon as pastor at the church. Senator Obama deplores divisive statements whether they come from his supporters, the supporters of his opponent, talk radio, or anywhere else.”

The story only grew, and so Senator Obama responded with an Op-Ed on the Huffington Post blog site this afternoon, taking a harder stance against his longtime pastor, and clearly hoping this will be the end of the controversy.

Obama said he “vehemently disagreed” with the statements currently in the spotlight. Obama wrote Rev. Wright “has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn. The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation.”

The campaign can’t remember when Obama last attended Trinity, but said it had been “months.” Obama wrote that he would continue a relationship with his church under the care of its new pastor, Otis Moss, III, who took over just last weekend. “While Rev. Wright’s statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States,” Obama concluded.

Flanked by ten admirals and generals and a slew of American flags, Obama spoke about his readiness to be Commander-in-Chief — a qualification the Clinton campaign has said on the stump and in television ads that Obama does not possess.

It’s his judgment, Obama says, not necessarily the Washington experience that qualifies him for the role. “Instead of a serious, substantive debate, we’ve heard vague allusions to a ‘Commander-in-Chief threshold’ that seems to be about nothing more than the number of years you’ve spent in Washington.  This is exactly what’s wrong with the national security debate in Washington,” he said in front of reporters in Chicago. “The real Commander-in-Chief threshold doesn’t have to do with years tallied up in Washington, it has to do with the judgment and vision that you will bring to the Oval Office,” he continued.

General Tony McPeak - a retired Air Force commander and Obama supporter - said Obama has both the sound judgment and the temperament to lead the nation. “Good news and bad, Senatorn Obama was up in Iowa, maybe not so up in New Hampshire. But he was the same Barack Obama on the one day as the other. Steady, reliable. You know no shock Barack kind of guy. No drama Obama. So when that phone rings, when that red phone rings at 3am, you want a guy with this kind of temperament to answer that telephone.”

But then Senator Obama said that he thinks both of his adversaries, Republican and Democrat, are also qualified to be Commander-in-Chief. When asked directly if he thought Hillary Clinton was prepared, he responded unequivacably, “Yes. As I do – as I believe Senator McCain is, and as I believe I am.” He then qualified that statement, saying Senator Clinton has played politics with the issue. “Keep in mind though I think it is fair to say that Senator Clinton has deployed this as a political strategy. The disingenuousness of it was revealed when they started saying that well, maybe he can be Vice President. Which by the President Clinton’s own criteria that it means I must be qualified to be commander in chief. Apparently the thinking is that you know I might not be ready on day one but maybe on day 15 I would be prepared,” he said.

He cited numerous officials who served under former President Bill Clinton who now support Candidate Obama as evidence that he is ready. “The Clintons understand this. This was a last minute gambit prior to Texas and Ohio, because in their own terms that had  said that their campaign would end if they didn’t win,” he said, explaining that this strategy fit into the Clinton’s  “kitchen sink” campaign strategy.

But Obama does see a silver lining to this line of attacks. “This issue would have come up in the general election anyway. So we mind as well surface it now. I didn’t except Democrats to be making these arguments against fellow Democrats. They typically come from Republicans against Democrats. Certainly if Senator Clinton were the nominee John McCain will make the exact same argument against her. But if it’s, since I intend to be the nominee and I’m going to be running against John McCain, it’s an argument that we would have to deal with at some point,” he noted.

 Today while Barack Obama toured a wind turbine factory in Fairless Hills, PA, his campaign held a conference call to respond to Geraldine Ferraro’s comments. Ferraro, a former vice presidential candidate and current Clinton surrogate, told a newspaper that Obama was “lucky to be who he is.”  “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,” Ferraro told the Daily Breeze newspaper. “The country is caught up in the concept,” she said.

Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod responded to the remarks on a conference call with reporters, saying this demonstrates a pattern with the Clinton camp. “Whether it was the Bill Shaheen incident, the Bob Johnson incident, Senator Clinton’s own inexplicable unwillingness to make a direct statement on 60 Minutes about, about, Senator Obama’s Christianity, even though they’ve shared prayer groups together in Congress.  All of it is part of an insidious pattern that needs to be addressed.   If they want to, they ought to set a tone and do what we’ve done and when people say things not in keeping with what is the spirit of our campaign we’ve been very firm in dealing with that.  They have not.”

Axelrod continued, “The bottom line is when you when you wink and nod at offensive statements, you’re really sending a signal to your supporters that anything goes, and we call upon the Clinton campaign to take firmer action in this regard.” More pointedly, Axelrod said, “Congresswoman Ferraro is a member of the Finance Committee.  She is a surrogate for Senator Clinton, and she ought to be removed from those positions”

While his campaign has been pressing the issue, Senator Obama himself has remained mum. When asked about the comments during his tour of the turbine factory, Obama, surrounded by members of the press, laughed it off. “See, this is what we get.” Later, when another reporter asked if Ferraro should resign while he was greeting voters following a town hall, Obama did not acknowledge the question or the questioner.

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St. Louis, MO — Sen. John McCain rebuked comments Monday by an Iowa Congressman who said al Qaeda would be “dancing in the streets” if Sen. Barack Obama is elected president.

“I don’t understand that kind of rhetoric, I don’t know what motivates someone to use it, so it’s hard for me to even contemplate why someone would (say that),” McCain said aboard his campaign plane this afternoon when asked about the comments by Rep. Steve King (R-IA). “I think it’s important that people know where I stand as a candidate. And how I stand on how we should treat our opponents. And my clear message has been over and over I’ll treat my opponents with respect.”

King, who has no connection to the campaign, told an Iowa newspaper over the weekend that terrorists would be energized by Obama’s policies in Iraq as well his given middle name–Hussein. The Obama campaign immediately called on McCain to condemn the remarks.

The King comments are the latest in a series of incendiary anti-Obama statements made by Republicans. McCain also condemned statements by the Tennessee Republican Party and radio talk show host Bill Cunningham.

The presumptive GOP nominee reiterated today that he intends to conduct a “respectful debate,” but lamented that he won’t be able to control everyone in his party.

“One of the fundamentals that I’ve learned in this campaign is that…when at a town hall meeting I say I’m going to have a respectful debate, people applaud, people say ‘that’s what we want’…I would think that other elected officials would also get that message,” McCain said. “I can’t control obviously other people…what they say or do, I can only make it very clear as to what I’m going to do. I think that position is being reinforced when people just come up to me and say ‘gee I hear you’re going to run a respectful debate. We’d love to see that for a change.’”

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St. Louis, MO — Sen. John McCain had little to say Monday about revelations that NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer is connected to a prostitution ring.

Asked to comment on the news of the day at a St. Louis press conference early this evening, McCain said he was not commenting– choosing only to add, “our prayers go out to his family at this time.”

During a previous availability aboard his plane en route to Missouri today, he said he was still waiting for “further information” before choosing to comment, adding only that the Spitzer news was something “nobody ever expected.”

Barack Obama spent about seven minutes out of his stump speech today in Columbus, Mississippi, responding to the Clintons effort to woo voters by hinting at a Clinton-Obama ticket.

The short answer - no way! Obama spent considerably more time shooting the rumor down, however.

First, the junior Senator from Illinois claimed, he’s in first place. “I don’t know how somebody who’s in second place is offering the vice presidency to someone who’s in first place. I mean, I’m just wondering, I’m just wondering because, if I was in second place, I could understand it, but I’m in first place right now,” he said to a crowd of about 1500.

Obama also pointed out that the Clinton campaign has been making the argument that he is not fit to be Commander-in-Chief. Based on the premise that the veep is a “heartbeat away from the presidency,” why would the Clintons pick a so-called inexperienced running mate?

“I don’t want anybody here thinking that I—that somehow maybe I can get both. Don’t think that way. You have to make a choice in this election. Are you gonna go along with the past or are you gonna go towards the future? Are you gonna do the same old thing or are you gonna try something new? I am not running for VP. I do not believe Senator Clinton is about change, because in fact, this kind of gamesmanship — talking about me as VP, but maybe he’s not ready for Commander-in-Chief — that’s exactly the kind of double speak, double talk that Washington is very good at, that people who spent a long time in Washington have a lot of experience at, but is not gonna solve the problems of this country. Have I been clear? I want to make sure I’m clear to everybody.”

Watch Obama’s rant here:

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The Fox News Sunday panel chimed in on the topic this morning. What do you think?

Another day, another inflammatory anti-Obama remark for Camp McCain to condemn.

The latest comes from Iowa Rep. Steve King who told a Spencer, IA paper that terrorists would be “dancing in the streets” if Obama is elected president, adding that Islamic extremists will be energized by the Democrat’s Iraq policy as well his middle name, Hussein. While King has no affiliation with the McCain campaign, Obama officials still called on the presumptive GOP nominee to condemn the remark yesterday.

McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan told Fox Saturday:

“The Senator has been clear that he intends to keep this campaign about the issues. He has condemned similar comments by (radio talk show host) Bill Cunningham. He doesn’t agree with King’s comments,” Buchanan said. “He intends to run a respectful race and keep it about the issues.”

In recent weeks, McCain also condemned Cunningham, who had delivered an anti-Obama rant at a campaign event, and the Tennessee Republican Party for an anti-Obama press release that also used his middle name.

One has a feeling that these headaches won’t be going away any time soon if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee…

Obama visited the Cowboy State for the first time as a presidential candidate to return fire directed at his campaign. And to give residents of Casper, Wyoming, a show - something the normally politically quiet state hasn’t seen the likes of in some time.

Responding to criticism from his Democratic rival about comments his now-former foreign policy advisor made to the BBC, Barack Obama said, “Now, I just have to mention this because I don’t want anybody here to be confused.” Clinton had quoted Samantha Power at an event earlier today, who had told the BBC that while Obama has given a timeframe for withdrawal in Iraq, it would depend on the situation at the time.

To clear up the confusion, Obama defiantly said, “If it has been up to me we would have never been in this war. It was because of George Bush with an assist from Hillary Clinton and John McCain that we entered into this war. A war that should have never been authorized, a war that should have never been waged. I’ve been against it - 2002, 2003, 2004, 5, 6, 7, 8. And I will bring this war to an end in 2009. So don’t be confused.” He continued, “Don’t be confused when Senator Clinton is not even willing to acknowledge that she voted for war. She says she voted for diplomacy despite the title that said authorization to use US armed forces in Iraq. So I don’t want to play politics on this issue because she doesn’t have standing to question my position on this issue.”

Obama also brought up that pesky “red phone” ad that may have cost him votes in Texas - part of what he calls the “politics of fear.” “I mean, what do people think I’m going to do? I’m going to answer the phone,” he said as the crowd laughed. “And I will find out what’s going on, and I won’t be, and I won’t be browbeaten into launching a war that wasn’t necessary, I will get all the information about what crisis is taking place, and I will exercise the same judgment that I have shown over the last several issues ranging from, ranging from Iraq to Pakistan to all the other issues that are going to be so critical for the next president to deal with.”

If Casper wasn’t awake by the end of his animated town hall, he definitely got their attention (and that of his traveling press corps) when he brought up the experience issue - something that has plagued his candidacy from the beginning. “Senator Clinton and Senator McCain, they say, ‘We’ve got all these years of experience and this and that and the other.’ Look who’s run the best campaign. Look who’s managed this campaign from scratch. You know, that’s worth taking a look at. Look at what we’ve built from scratch to compete against people who have been building this thing for 20, 30 years, and we’ve done just fine.”

Obama heads to Laramie to hold a rally on the campus of the University of Wyoming before returning to Chicago later tonight.