Today’s New York Times commented that the political alliance of Pat Robertson and Rudolph Giuliani could compete for the strangest bedfellows of 2008. While I agree with Joseph Biden that Giuliani does not possess the appropriate temperament or experience to be president, I welcome the willingness of Mr. Robertson to not let Giuliani’s support for abortion and gay rights become the bell weather determinant of a person’s presidential qualifications.
Let me say, that I am a nominal Republican who does not possess the sixth sense of the Shadow, and therefore cannot see into the ‘hearts of men.” In a nutshell, while I do not know all the reasons that compelled Robertson to take this bold step and therefore antagonize his evangelical support base, I feel strongly that for our country to get out of our current mire we cannot afford any longer to make political decisions based purely on ideology.
Certainly, Mr. Robertson was influenced by Giuliani’s nationwide popularity. That is, Mr. Robertson must recognize that currently Giuliani is the only Republican hopeful who can possibly be elected. Opinion polls show that Giuliani runs even with Hilary Clinton, Barrack Obama, and John Edwards.
I strongly believe that George Bush’s unpopularity stems from bad decisions emanating from his ideological mind set. Mr. Bush has appointed mediocre people to high level positions solely because they shared his narrow vision. Furthermore, he has squandered his political capital by supporting incompetents such as Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzalez long after they lost credibility.
Stated differently, the greatness of the American democratic system has been our focus on common sense and willingness to compromise in order to make pragmatic accomplishments. While I personally do not look forward to Rudolph Giuliani being our jockey for the next four years, I do want our country to make domestic and foreign policy decisions that are rational. Thus, I would like our next President to be selected on the quality of his ideas, not on the basis of his religious ideology. Our founding fathers were absolutely correct in their inclusion in the Bill of Rights, the separation of church and state.
In essence, Robertson’s endorsement of a Giuliani shows the deep divide in the Christian conservative movement over how to balance politics and principle. That is, Robertson prefers the victory of a Republican over the leading Democratic candidates irrespective of Giuliani’s heretical beliefs.
The former democratic King Maker, Robert Strauss, once said in my presence that he felt that making abortion and gay rights primary issues for presidential campaigns was a “damn fool’ mistake. Mr. Strauss represents my views.
Specifically, Pat Robertson historically has been a major figure in the Christian Evangelical movement, and therefore has adamantly opposed abortion and homosexual rights. On the other hand, Rudolph Giuliani, who is a Roman Catholic, remains supportive of both abortion and homosexual rights.
Interestingly enough, the Republican Party has never nominated a Catholic for the highest office in the land. Thus, if Giuliani receives the Republican nomination, this will be a departure from their previous adherence to White Anglo-Saxon Protestant candidates. On the other hand, the Democrats contentiously nominated both Al Smith and John Kennedy to be their standard bearer. Ironically, John Kerry was stigmatized by the Roman Catholic Church for his pro abortion positions. However, unlike Kennedy or Smith, Kerry’s campaign was not marred by religious bigotry.
Originally published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
