There is a movement afoot by some in the media to try to equate the problems Barack Obama has had with Rev. Jeremiah Wright to the relationship that John McCain has with Rev. John Hagee.

That logic falls apart for a couple of reasons. First, McCain has never been a part of Hagee’s church, not as a member or regular attender at any point. Second, McCain has never called Hagee a spiritual mentor or adviser. Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, McCain has been quick to repudiate many of the stupid things Hagee has said over the years.

Make no mistake — Hagee has made a lot of dumb statements over the years, and his theology is pretty dubious. Actually, calling it dubious is being generous.

It’s guys like Hagee that Republicans (and politicians in general) ought to avoid like the plague. Hagee suffers from the same affliction that so many tele-mega-vangelists do — they know they’re right about everything, and aren’t afraid to tell you, and in their self-assuredness, they wield immense amounts of power.

Five years ago, I pointed out the absurdity of Hagee banking $1.25 million as an annual salary. But that kind of extravagance is almost commonplace among the tele-mega-vangelist set.

Hagee’s theology is a mix of run-of-the-mill prosperity gospel, hyper-Pentecostalism, anti-Catholicism, premillenial dispensationalism, and, of course, over-the-top Zionism. If you’re John McCain, and you really want to appeal to evangelicals and non-evangelicals alike, this is not the guy you want on your side.

Hagee and Jeremia Wright might both be nutty in their own ways, but the Hagee rap won’t stick to McCain because, unlike Obama, McCain didn’t sit in the pews for years and fail to raise an objection.