Making Sense Of Robertson For Rudy

By: Jeff Greenfield
Topics: Rudy Giuliani

(CBS/EARLY SHOW)

CBS News Senior Political Correspondent Jeff Greenfield weighs in with his thoughts on today's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani by Pat Robertson, noting that in many ways, Robertson's move makes sense:

Before anyone gets too blown away by Pat Robertson's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani -- "What? A leader of the Christian right backing a pro-choice, pro-gay rights New Yorker?" -– here's some context:

1. Giuliani has spent much of the last five years actively courting the more conservative elements of the Republican coalition. As early as 2002, he was interjecting himself into Republican primaries to back the more conservative candidate -- Bill Simon for governor of California in 2002, Bob Smith in the New Hampshire Senate primary that year.

More recently, Giuliani backed Ralph Reed, one-time executive director of the Christian Coalition in its glory years, for Georgia Lieutenant Governor. Reed, badly battered by his links to the Jack Abramoff scandal, lost by a wide margin -- but Rudy picked up a chit.

2. For some evangelicals, the war on terror –- one of Giuliani's main selling points -- is more than just a national security issue. It is a "good vs. evil" issue, where the Judeo-Christian West is under assault by Islamic extremists. To some, that issue trumps social issues -- especially given Giuliani's promise to appoint judges in the mold of Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.

3. Robertson has long been a political player at least as much as a religious leader. He's often backed more "electable" Republicans, against the more "pure" social conservatives.

4. In many ways, Robertson's best days are behind him. The Christian Coalition is a shadow of itself, barely functioning. His own influence, eroded by comments that have brought him widespread condemnation -- most especially for his apparent belief that the 9/11 attacks were a sign of God's punishment on America for its licentious ways. At a time when many other evangelicals are, to put it mildly, uneasy with some of Giuliani's views, this puts Robertson back in the political center ring.

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by bpai99 November 8, 2007 3:39 PM EST: As usual, Jeff is right on. Rudy and Pat have demonstrated consistently throughout their careers that they value power over principle, and that their ends justify any means. The only ones surprised by this announcment are touchingly naive.; Reply to this comment


by quantumlook November 8, 2007 3:40 AM EST: Please notice: Pat Robertson, who said something equivalent to: "America was attacked because we deserved it", has endorsed Rudy. Ron Paul did not say America deserved to be attacked. It would seem that Rudy *HAS* heard something like what he was falsely claiming Ron Paul had said. He just didn''t remember ?? Isn''t it strange that Rudy has no problem with Pat Robertson''s endorsement? Does Rudy have a problem with his memory and his hearing? I do not think Rudy is presidential. I think Ron Paul would be the best president since our founding fathers. His views are spot on for our present predicament. Truth remains truth, even this many years later.; Reply to this comment


by quantumlook November 8, 2007 3:38 AM EST: Please notice: Pat Robertson, who said something equivalent to: "America was attacked because we deserved it", has endorsed Rudy. Ron Paul did not say America deserved to be attacked. It would seem that Rudy *HAS* heard something like what he was falsely claiming Ron Paul had said. He just didn''t remember ?? Isn''t it strange that Rudy has no problem with Pat Robertson''s endorsement? Does Rudy have a problem with his memory and his hearing? I do not think Rudy is presidential. I think Ron Paul would be the best president since our founding fathers. His views are spot on for our present predicament. Truth remains truth, even this many years later.; Reply to this comment


by quantumlook November 8, 2007 3:37 AM EST: Please notice: Pat Robertson, who said something equivalent to: "America was attacked because we deserved it", has endorsed Rudy. Ron Paul did not say America deserved to be attacked. It would seem that Rudy *HAS* heard something like what he was falsely claiming Ron Paul had said. He just didn''t remember ?? Isn''t it strange that Rudy has no problem with Pat Robertson''s endorsement? Does Rudy have a problem with his memory and his hearing? I do not think Rudy is presidential. I think Ron Paul would be the best president since our founding fathers. His views are spot on for our present predicament. Truth remains truth, even this many years later.; Reply to this comment


by quantumlook November 8, 2007 3:34 AM EST: Please notice: Pat Robertson, who said something equivalent to: "America was attacked because we deserved it", has endorsed Rudy. Ron Paul did not say America deserved to be attacked. It would seem that Rudy *HAS* heard something like what he was falsely claiming Ron Paul had said. He just didn''t remember ?? Isn''t it strange that Rudy has no problem with Pat Robertson''s endorsement? Does Rudy have a problem with his memory and his hearing? I do not think Rudy is presidential. I think Ron Paul would be the best president since our founding fathers. His views are spot on for our present predicament. Truth remains truth, even this many years later.; Reply to this comment


by topprophet November 8, 2007 2:59 AM EST: Things people should know about Rudolph Giuliani: A Spanish company, Cintra-Zachry, which is owned by the King of Spain, is already building the North American SuperCorridor highway through the middle of our country thanks to NAFTA, and they''re going to get the tolls. Rodolph Giuliani''s Law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani represents that Spanish company. Another Giuliani business, Giuliani Capitol Advisors was once a partner of Cintra-Zachry, and actually owned the rights to collect tolls from the Indiana and Chicago sections of the SuperCorridor before Giuliani sold that interest recently to an Australian company called Macquarie. Bracewell & Giuliani represents some of the biggest multi-national oil, utility infrastructure and financial corporations both in the U.S. and abroad. With that have come the connections that Giuliani has been able to tap into for campaign donations, essential for his Presidential bid, not only in Texas but nationwide, as he has become the consumate NWO globalist. Particularly unnerving, given Giuliani''s personal experience on 9/11, is his defense of open borders at any cost while condoning the NAFTA Superhighway Corridor and by extension the North American Union, without the consent of the U.S. Congress or the will of the American people. We should have seen it coming when Mayor Giuliani enacted Special Order 40 in 1994, ordering NYC Law enforcement officers to stop checking the immigration status of suspects caught violating the Law.; Reply to this comment


by topprophet November 8, 2007 2:50 AM EST: All of these trade deals and world governmental organizations that all of the presidential candidates support (except Ron Paul), such as the ICC, NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA, are all major threat to our nation''s sovereignty. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites. The ICC wants to try our soldiers as war criminals. Both the WTO and CAFTA could force Americans to get a prescription to take herbs and vitamins. The WTO has forced Congress to change our laws to meet their needs, and not our own. If anything, the WTO makes trade relations worse by giving foreign competitors a new way to attack U.S. jobs. The NAFTA superhighway, which is currently being built, is just one part of a plan to erase our borders and create the North American Union, a single nation State like the EU, out of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, with a new, unelected bureaucracy and money system. Forget about controlling immigration under the NAU scheme. There won''t be any borders anymore, or a free America. Our limited, constitutional government, will be gone forever. Let''s not forget the UN either. It wants to impose a direct Carbon Tax on us. Ron Paul successfully fought this move in Congress last year, but if we are going to stop ongoing attempts of this world government body to rule over us, we need someone in the White House who knows how to say "No." We must withdraw from any organizations or treaty that infringes upon our nation''s sovereignty. Vote AMERICA FIRST! Vote for Ron Paul.; Reply to this comment


by kansas1946 November 8, 2007 1:08 AM EST: I thought Robertson favored Romney. Why Robertson would favor a pro-choice and pro-gay candidate over another that''''s pro-life and pro-moral is beyond me. Robertson should be ashamed for not standing up for his values. For shame!
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Exactly what "values" are those? He is a lunatic and crazy people act crazy. It is a rule.; Reply to this comment


by denn034 November 7, 2007 11:45 PM EST: I thought Robertson favored Romney. Why Robertson would favor a pro-choice and pro-gay candidate over another that''s pro-life and pro-moral is beyond me. Robertson should be ashamed for not standing up for his values. For shame!; Reply to this comment


by AgentGGG November 7, 2007 7:44 PM EST: I wonder if these two are really a match made in heaven. It appears a mutually beneficial arrangement, almost too smug. But this endorsement fails to make either of them more sincere or statesmanlike. In particular, Robertson has made public comments that allow many to question his mental clarity. In that sense, this endorsement may actually turn as many moderates away from Guilani as the number of Christian Coalition supporters he gains.

BTW, has anyone seen the new website www.netvote2008.com ? This website appears to show how the poll numbers change when events such as this endorsement happen.; Reply to this comment