Rudy's mixed blessing
GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani got a bump in polls this week. Televangelist Pat Robertson's backing tells Christian conservatives "it's now OK to vote for Rudy," said Larry Kudlow in National Review Online. But talk about "strange
What happened
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani rose in the polls this week after receiving a surprise endorsement from televangelist Pat Robertson, but political strategists are divided on whether Robertson will help Giuliani’s campaign, or hurt it.
What the commentators said
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Giuliani’s on a roll, said Larry Kudlow in National Review Online. Polls show he has surged into a “dead heat” with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, and Robertson’s “hugely important endorsement” has sent a “clear” message to social conservatives that “it’s now OK to vote for Rudy.” The race for the nomination will be Giuliani’s to lose if he can keep the focus on fighting terrorism and get voters to treat abortion as one of many important issues.
There’s no doubt Robertson’s stamp of approval will help the twice-divorced, pro-choice Giuliani court religious conservatives, said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial (free registration). But talk about “strange bedfellows.” Giuliani can claim he’s just welcoming more people into “a big tent, but too many endorsements like this could turn his campaign into a circus.”
If Giuliani is going to embrace a “huckster” like Robertson, said Joe Conason in Salon.com, he’ll have to “explain exactly where he and his new best friend agree.” Specifically, does Giuliani share Robertson’s insistence that the Constitution doesn’t guarantee separation of church and state? Does he agree that criticizing the commander-in-chief during war is treason? And does Rudy think America deserved the 9/11 terrorist attacks because it tolerates abortion and gay rights?
A lot of people are “scratching their heads” about this one, said Michael Reagan in HumanEvents.com. But it’s Robertson who’ll have to answer for “backing a man who stands opposed to just about every moral issue of vital importance to most Christians.” So why did he do it? Simple. Robertson is practical. He figured Giuliani was the GOP candidate “most likely to top the Hillary train from roaring into the White House,” and he chose what he saw as “the lesser of two evils.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Inside Marseille's deadly drug wars
The Explainer Teenage hitmen recruited through social media are lured by money and gang 'brand'
By The Week UK Published
-
A human foot found on Mount Everest is renewing the peak's biggest mystery
The discovery is reviving questions about who may have summited the mountain first
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: October 22, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
1 of 6 'Trump Train' drivers liable in Biden bus blockade
Speed Read Only one of the accused was found liable in the case concerning the deliberate slowing of a 2020 Biden campaign bus
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published