While George W. Bush campaigned for office and after he became president of the United States, his Methodist pastor in Dallas refused to talk with the news media. Why? He put serving the spiritual needs of his flock first, and that meant not exploiting a high-profile church member for a moment of fame.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s pastor, well-known evangelist Leith Anderson of Eden Prairie, is less low-profile, but still usually balks at talking about politics with the media. That’s been true even though he’s president of the National Association of Evangelicals and serves on a faith-based advisory council to President Obama.

The NAE is a coalition of nearly 40 conservative Christian denominations not usually associated with the extreme right wing of the evangelical Christian movement. These are the Billy Graham, Salvation Army, Presbyterian Church in America evangelicals, not those along the vein of nutty televangelist Pat Robertson or the late Jerry Falwell, the vitriolic gas bag who insisted the children’s Telebubbies character Tinky Winky was gay.

Unfortunately, some in the media, failing to grasp those nuances, are unfairly painting Anderson as baggage to Pawlenty’s presidential bid. The blogger behind RedState.com recently predicted: “Tim Pawlenty’s preacher is going to cause him some problems in the primary.”

Soon after, a headline on the liberal website Salon.com blared: “Tim Pawlenty has his own Rev. Wright.” The article made a ridiculous comparison between the soft-spoken Anderson and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the liberal minister whose biting persona and alienating rhetoric led church member Obama to sever ties during his 2008 presidential campaign.

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