Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008    Text size: 

Phil Burress, president of the Cincinnati-based conservative group Citizens for Community Values, is quoted prominently in the article, which focuses on the candidate's problems with socially conservative Republicans in the politically seminal state of Ohio.

"He doesn't want to associate with us," Burress is quoted as saying of McCain, "and we don't want to associate with him."

Burress was speaking on the heels of a disastrous meeting he recently had with two representatives from the McCain campaign who requested a meeting in order to seek his support in the general election.

Burress is the architect of Ohio's 2004 anti-gay marriage initiative, which brought thousands of socially conservative voters to the polls and helped tip the state to President George W. Bush.

Because of that success, the Times reports, and because McCain is well aware that he is perceived as being inconsistent on socially conservative issues, his campaign is going out of its way to reach out to Ohioans such as Burress in order to establish closer ties and bolster a much-needed base.

Burress, however, expressed surprise at how badly the meeting went, and said he was unable to make the reps understand just how deeply McCain is distrusted in Ohio by social conservatives.

The article makes no reference to any mention of adult entertainment during the meeting, but Burress is well known for his active opposition to all forms of pornography, including movies watched privately by adults in hotel rooms. As recently as April of this year, Burress was spearheading an initiative to force Marriott to stop allowing adult fare in their hotel rooms.

As far as who will ultimately get his support in November, Burress did concede that he will probably vote for McCain, if only to prevent Obama from packing the Supreme Court with liberals, but he told the Times he will not work for him and suspects that many Ohioans will stay home rather than vote for a man whose socially conservative values they question.