THE Bush administration and the religious Right have nervously sought to distance themselves from disgraced evangelical leader Reverend Ted Haggard after allegations that the father of five had led a double life, using drugs and regularly paying for sex with a male prostitute. The White House was trying to play down Mr Haggard's political influence after he was forced to resign as head of the powerful National Association of Evangelicals, which claims 30 million members, when Colorado bodybuilder Mike Jones went public about his alleged three-year relationship with the 50-year-old married pastor. In a television interview over the weekend, Mr Haggard - who has publicly condemned homosexuality and opposed gay unions - invoked the Bill Clinton defence. He acknowledged buying crystal methamphetamine - a drug sometimes used to heighten sexual experience - from Jones, but said he had thrown the drugs away. "I was tempted, I bought it," he said, "but I never used it."
He denied having sex with the 49-year-old escort, whose website promises massages "with the pleasure of the man in mind", but admitted visiting Jones for a non-sexual massage, claiming he was referred to him by a Denver hotel. Jones said this was not true, and that he only advertised in gay magazines and websites.
"Never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife, I'm faithful to my wife," Mr Haggard said.
The White House - already concerned about the loss of the Christian vote in tomorrow's mid-term elections over scandals such as that involving Republican congressman Mark Foley, who sent sex messages to teenage pages - played down Mr Haggard's connections with President George W.Bush.
A spokesman said Mr Haggard was not a regular member of a weekly conference call between Mr Bush and evangelical leaders.
"He had been on a couple of calls, but was not a weekly participant in those calls," Bush spokesman Tony Fratto said. "I believe he's been to the White House one or two times ... but there have been a lot of people who come to the White House."
Several evangelical leaders, from Jerry Falwell to Pat Robertson, reminded followers that Mr Haggard - who often clashed with hardline colleagues on political issues - was not widely accepted as a leader of their community and cast doubt on the influence of his association.
Some Republicans believe Mr Haggard's disgrace will not have an effect on the election, despite polls showing a decline in Republican support from disenchanted conservative Christians.
Colorado, where the Republicans need to hold two key Congressional seats, is one of eight states to vote on Wednesday on whether to ban same-sex marriage, an issue Mr Bush chose not to mention in a campaign stop in the state yesterday.
Jones told a local television station it was Mr Haggard's support of the ban on gay unions, as well as his public opposition to homosexuality, that made him decide to go public about their sexual relationship.
Mr Haggard initially denied he even knew Jones but was forced to change his position after Jones released two voicemail recordings in which Mr Haggard refers to himself as Art, his middle name.
"Hi, Mike, this is Art. Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100 or $200 supply ... and I could pick it up really any time ... I also wanted to get your address so I could send you some money for inventory," Mr Haggard says on the tape.
Although Jones reportedly struggled during a lie-detector test organised by a Denver radio station, he said his account of monthly sexual encounters with Mr Haggard for three years was not embellished.
"I have said everything that has happened is the truth," said Jones, who only realised who Mr Haggard was when he saw him on television.
"Again, if I wanted to make up some additional story I could embellish many more things. I could talk about kinky sex or something. I could have made it even worse than it was. But I'm just telling you what happened," he said.
Some analysts believe such hypocrisy will hurt the Republicans at the polls.
"Will this affect the elections? You better believe it," said conservative activist Stephen Bennett, who claims God cured him of homosexuality.
"The more and more hypocrisy I see each day, the more I realise next Tuesday we are going to get exactly what we deserve."