The Occasional Observer

This is a huge blow to Mitt and an enormous boost for Rudy: Pat Robertson officially endorsing Rudy. It's Giuliani time! (Which hopefully in no way resembles Lima time!)

I must say this is surprising. At the very least it forces a change of what SoCons consider as their top priorities and their agenda, at the worst it totally undermines any legitimacy of the SoCon agenda. By saying that terrorism and fiscal policies are BOTH more important than social issues - at least at this time - is a big change for SoCons, especially since the personal life and abortion policies of Rudy in no way mirror the SoCon agenda. I would have expected that a more likely approach would be for Robertson and others to back the candidate they most closely agreed with (e.g. Huckabee, perhaps Romney), and then only rally behind Rudy or McCain (if they got the nomination) to ensure a Republican general election victory in '08. To support Rudy at this juncture is unexpected, at least to me. On the other hand, Robertson may have been making a calculated move that unless the Republicans quickly develop a clear front-runner, they will continue to fall further behind Dems both in fund-raising as well as perception of electability in voters' minds. If Republicans have a clear, strong front-runner now, I think it gives independent voters more faith in that candidate as a possibility.