Welcome to the 700 Club, Rudy

[laststeamtrain]

Welcome to the 700 Club, Rudy
Pat Robertson's endorsement could be both a blessing and a curse for Rudy Giuliani.

By Walter Shapiro

Nov. 08, 2007 | Pat Robertson's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani Wednesday morning may have triggered an earthquake in national political circles, but here in the most socially conservative of the early primary states, there were only faint tremors on the Richter scale. In fact, the early evening local newscasts did not even mention the Pat-and-Rudy odd-coupling, even though Giuliani had swooped into the area for a cameo appearance late afternoon at his state headquarters.

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Endorsements also bring with them a comic element, especially when erstwhile foes suddenly proclaim their shared visions. The Washington press conference announcing the Robertson endorsement was carefully constructed to make it all look like an alliance of strict-constructionist legal philosophers. Introducing the televangelist was not the campaign's director of evangelical outreach, or a political figure known for sharing Robertson's literal reading of the Book of Revelation. Instead the task fell to Ted Olson, the former solicitor general in the Bush Justice Department, a leading conservative legal thinker. The message was clear: This melding of minds was about putting more Antonin Scalias on the Supreme Court, not about Giuliani's personal life and beliefs.

Robertson, who is a frail 77-year-old, was at times not the most articulate advocate on behalf of his chosen candidate. Asked about fears of splitting the social conservative movement on a day when presidential dropout Sam Brownback endorsed John McCain, Robertson said, offering a clanging rather than a ringing endorsement, "I just believe that I needed to make a statement -- and I am speaking for myself -- that, in my opinion, as a -- what would be considered a leader of the evangelicals, that Rudy Giuliani is, without question, an acceptable candidate."

As the day wore on, Giuliani became more exuberant about his newfound ally. In a phone interview with O. Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa, Rudy talked about how on a 2003 trip to Israel with Robertson, "We realized we agreed on far many more things than we disagreed on. In fact, our goals for the country were exactly the same. There are a couple of differences on means and how to get there, but there was a wide area of agreement." It remains unclear whether these wide areas of agreement include support for Robertson's inflammatory 2005 claim that activist judges pose a greater threat "than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings."

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In truth, when this campaign began, it would have been impossible to imagine that Rudy Giuliani would ever be part of an onward-Christian-soldiers alliance with Pat Robertson. But then -- and please, please refrain from any impure thoughts -- politics makes strange bedfellows.

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http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/11/08/giuliani_robertson/index_np.html?source=rss

[Joe Bacon]

1. Don't worry! SCREWDY® will find Jesus just before Election Day

If there is a sure thing in politics, it's that SCREWDY® will find Jesus just in time to rally theJesusbots to the ballot box. He's already showing an incredible ability to talk in tongues just like the current crop of ¢hri$tian crooks!

[focusfan]

2. Don't that make Pat Robertson a hypocrite

because Rudy is against things that christians stand for like
abortion.