Mitt Romney for President My Man Mitt: Robertson/Giuliani Endorsement Not As Surprising As Previously Thought

Here are excerpts from an article in the New York Sun:

"Mr. Giuliani, whose support of abortion and gay rights has been well documented, spoke at Mr. Robertson's Regent University in June, and the two have talked about sharing a bond as survivors of prostate cancer."

"Those personal ties mitigate the level of shock at an endorsement from a conservative leader so staunchly opposed to abortion...'The announcement does not come as a surprise,' the dean of Regent's Robertson School of Government, Charles Dunn, said. 'Their relationship goes back some time.' "

"Mr. Dunn described the move as a "win-win" for both Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Robertson. The former mayor, he said, 'needed a whale of the evangelical movement to endorse him' to slow down Mr. Romney's momentum with social conservatives. 'This is a big whale,' Mr. Dunn said. And as for Mr. Robertson, endorsing Mr. Giuliani 'makes him a big player in the game,' Mr. Dunn said."

"For Mr. Giuliani, the endorsement will help him in the Republican primary, but it is not without risk. Mr. Robertson has drawn the ire of an array of interest groups in recent years with outlandish statements that have angered women, homosexuals, and Jews, among others."

While most were shocked, initially, as I was yesterday about this report. Dr. Dunn's comments seem to put it in perspective.

While this is good news for the Giuliani Campaign at the moment, I believe that the impact this move has in negligible compared to what a Robertson endorsement would have been 8 years ago. While the article somewhat denigrates the notion that the Christian Right is coalescing around Governor Romney and uses this endorsement as proof, the numbers don't lie. Thus far, Governor Romney has been getting the majority of endorsements from the Christian Right and I think that will continue. Robertson's endorsement certainly will not begin a mass exodus of Christian leaders falling over themselves to endorse Giuliani.

What this does, in my mind, is to solidify the notion that this is truly a two-man race between Governor Romney and Major Giuliani. As things are trending, one can just look at the new NH poll, the tide is turning overwhelmingly in Governor Romney's favor.

"Let not your heart be troubled..."


	4 Comments: We can say many things about Giuliani (who I wouldn't vote for if my life depended upon it unless he seriously changes his position on abortion), but one thing for sure about Rudy is that he is an extremely, extremely strong supporter of Israel. I think that Giuliani's support of Israel is underplayed in its importance as to why Robertson endorsed him. With Robertson's predictions about the end of the world coming so soon, Robertson might be looking to make sure that he supports someone who he knows will be on Israel's side during Armageddon. This may sound a bit out there, but many have argued that Robertson is a bit out there also. Is Robertson thinking that a Giuliani Presidency will somehow speed up the Second Coming of Christ? I wouldn't put it past Pat Robertson. I don't necessarily think that Pat Robertson is prophetic, but maybe he is in tune to something that I'm missing. Anyway, Giuliani's support of Israel is also very enticing to me. And Pat Robertson said that he spoke with Giuliani at length during a flight back from Israel. I can't imagine this not affecting someone as pro-Israel as Pat Robertson. In fact, Giuliani's positions on many issues are extremely appealing - Giuliani's personal flaws aside. But this does not excuse his support for the horrific practice of abortion. To explain the importance of a candiate's opposition to abortion to prove that a candidate is not flawed beyond repair, it would be like having a Republican candidate who was perfect on every issue but supported slavery before the Civil War. I could not do vote for that person. For that matter, supporting abortion now is like supporting slavery after the Civil War. When Robertson talks about the "blood lust" of terrorists who want to kill us, he seems to forget about something that he's worked hard to bring to an end: the "blood lust" of Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and other pro-abortion activists. By Anonymous, at November 9, 2007 at 12:05 AM Have you read any of GMR's pro-Israel speaches? I for one think that not only is GMRE just as ardent a supporter of Israel as RG (not that it is a contest or something), but he is also the best equiped to advocate for Israel to the rest of the world. But that's just my opinion, it is certainly open to discussion, and a case can definitely be made for RG. By IZ, at November 9, 2007 at 11:50 AM Interesting point, although its not as though Mitt isn't a strong backer of Israel. He even gave a speech there earlier this year on dealing with Iran. By Anonymous, at November 9, 2007 at 12:35 PM My point wasn't that Mitt isn't a strong backer of Israel, I believe that he is, but my point was that Giuliani's defense of Israel may have been what made Robertson overlook all of Giuliani's problems on social issues. It's not a game of "I'm that too." It's a game of who does a certain individual believe can get something done on a certain issue. Like I said, maybe Robertson believes that Giuliani will speed up the process for the Second Coming somehow. It's just a thought. By Anonymous, at November 10, 2007 at 12:32 PM Post a Comment