I guess its better to have this than not to have it...

"I thought it was important for me to make it clear that Rudy Giuliani is more than acceptable to people of faith," said Robertson. "Given the fractured nature of the process, I thought it was time to solidify around one candidate."

He insisted that while some on the "fringe" of the social conservative movement may see Giuliani as an unacceptable nominee, the "core know better."

Robertson said although he and Giuliani disagree on social issues, those disagreements "pale into insignificance" when measured against the import of the fight against global terrorism and radical Islam. "We need a man who sees clearly how to deal with that issue," said Robertson.

The mainstream media obviously thinks this is a big deal, and why shouldn't they? They've been writing about the "religious right" monolith for decades at this point with no real clue what they are dealing with among Evangelicals.

Pat Robertson has an impressive television ministry, which of course is nothing at all like having a real ministry. There's a lot of money in it, but influence--real influence among Evangelicals occurs at the congregational level. They also have no idea how competitive various Evangelical "leaders" are with each other. No one a CBN has anything good to say about Jimmy Swaggart...(or vice versa I presume).

Evangelicals themselves are also a highly-independent bunch, essentially choosing their congregations according to their tastes and preferences. The idea that Pat Robertson is simply going to tell Evangelicals who to vote for is laughable.

In my view, Giuliani is suffering from--dare I call it this? New York parochalism. Its the idea, common among Northeastern Democrats but by no means limited to them, that everyone is part of a faction with common interests, with whose "leaders" one can strike deal. Rudy probably thinks he has the Evangelical vote sown up at this point and is sitting pretty. His view is reflected by his campaign strategy, which eschews the traditional retail politics for a
"national strategy".

Unfortunately for Rudy--the country is not New York.

Evangelicals, unlike Catholics, Mormons and other hierarchally organized religions, are an exceptionally independent bunch whose loyalties exist at the congregational level. Its not uncommon for Evangelicals to shop around for a congregation they like as well as biblical teaching that they find compatible with their own views. Does anyone familiar with the realities of Evangelicalism really think these people are going to vote the way Pat Robertson tells them to? James Dobson, or anyone else?

Not likely.

The reality is that Giuliani, Romney and anyone else interested in the Evangelical vote is going to have to do what George H.W. Bush did and then again what George W. Bush did--visit Evangelical congregations one-at-a-time.

We know for sure that Fred Thompson is not going to want to work that hard...

P.S: Unstated in any of this is whether CBN is going to share their mailing lists with he Giuliani campaign. An estimated 3 million people contribute to CBN at some level. That could be worth something, but its so 1980s. Modern demographic science is so much better and doesn't require deals with slimey guys like Robertson.

Sister Toldja