Could McCain's Apology Hurt His Standing With Conservatives?

(CBS)

TYLER, TEXAS – Be careful who introduces you at political rallies. That's the lesson John McCain is learning today after he apologized for conservative talk show host Bill Cunningham's comments about Barack Obama yesterday.

Cunningham responded to the apology by saying he will no longer support McCain, and may even switch his allegiance to Hillary Clinton. "My response is he is free to make a choice as every other citizen is," McCain said. "I still repudiate the comments that he made. We have and will continue to show respect for our opponents both in the primary and in the general election."

McCain spoke out against Cunningham's comments at his rally in Ohio yesterday, after Cunningham laid out an unflattering scenario of Obama as president and repeatedly used his middle name, "Hussein." "This is a free country," McCain said. "Mr. Cunningham is free to say or whatever he wants to in my view, just not at an event that is part of our campaign."

McCain said he had never met the man, but Cunningham claims they've met twice. Although McCain said they may have attended the same fundraiser, he doesn't recall meeting him, noting that he meets thousands of people at various events.

The incident could affect McCain's standing other conservative commentators. When McCain critics Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity came to his aid last week when the New York Times wrote a story alleging a romantic relationship with a lobbyist, it appeared that the presidential hopeful was making some progress with the conservative crowd. He was asked if he was worried he'd lose that support by disassociating himself from this conservative talk show host. "I will always do what I believe is right no matter what the political consequences, whether it's the war in Iraq or something like what happened yesterday," he said. "That's the only way I know how to run my life."