
 |
|
May 24, 2013
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Nov. 13, 2007
/ 3 Kislev 5768
Pat, Rudy and other surprises on the Right
By
Clarence Page
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Like war, presidential campaigns can surprise you. Keep that in mind as you try to figure out Pat Robertson's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid.
Robertson is a Virginia-based televangelist tycoon, icon of the religious right and a 1988 presidential candidate. He rails against abortion and gay marriage. Yet, he's endorsing a former New York mayor who favors a woman's right to choose, defends gun-control laws and, when marital difficulties forced him out of the mayoral mansion, shared a Manhattan apartment for a time with two gay friends.
So why is Robertson compromising his usual tut-tut moral absolutism to endorse Giuliani for the White House? The fight against Islamic fascism is of greater importance, says the founder of Christian Broadcasting Network. That's also the thinking of many social conservatives who have given Giuliani more support than a moderate Republican from New York might expect to get.
Whatever his agenda may be, Robertson's endorsement and Giuliani's eagerness to accept it says a lot about the nature of Campaign 2008: With the unifying force of President Bush in eclipse, the religious right is up for grabs, and all of the Republican candidates, except perhaps the libertarian maverick U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, appear eager to grab it.
The first rule of politics is: Thou shalt not divide thy base.
Of the front-runners—Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee—none have won the strong support of conservatives that Bush captured in the 2000 campaign.
That's kicked off an endorsement chase in which Romney has surged ahead with two big conservative names: Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation and Bob Jones III, chancellor of a famous Christian university. McCain famously criticized Robertson and the late Rev. Jerry Falwell in his 2000 presidential campaign, but he made his peace with Falwell before the Christian Coalition founder died this year. McCain is now endorsed by fellow Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a leading conservative voice who dropped out of the presidential race and left behind an Iowa organization that McCain sorely needs in that state.
During the same week, Thompson may have hurt himself with his base on NBC's "Meet the Press," when he made this seemingly sensible observation on abortion rights: "I do not think it is a wise thing to criminalize young girls and perhaps their parents as aiders and abettors." Nor should we have a federal law, he said, that "would take young, young girls . . . and say, basically, we're going to put them in jail."
The keen ears of anti-abortion activists and media quickly detected a tune Thompson probably did not want them to hear, the language of their ideological foes in the pro-choice movement. Another political rule: You can't win the hearts of social conservatives with the vocabulary of Planned Parenthood.
But the biggest GOP surprise may be coming from Bill Clinton's hometown of Hope, Ark. Oddly, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has not attracted a lot of big-name endorsements from clergy, even though he is one. The ordained Southern Baptist minister is a riveting speaker with an engaging personality. He seems to have all the right ideological credentials too. He wants a federal ban on abortion, supports the troop surge in Iraq and supports concealed-weapons permits.
The former governor of one of America's poorest states also says that government's mission should include helping people. What a concept.
He is not shy about expanding children's health care in his state and winning almost half of the African-American vote. He speaks movingly of dealing as a pastor and as a politician with real children and families struggling with real problems such as teen pregnancy, drug addictions and family dysfunction.
For this, fiscal conservatives, such as the Club for Growth, which he has called the "Club for Greed," have branded him a closet liberal. They're entitled to their opinion. But in Iowa, where Huckabee's focusing his campaign and gaining popularity, the caucus-goers appear to like him.
They also like to keep pollsters on their toes by offering up surprises, like giving a boost to a candidate who doesn't view the phrase "compassionate conservative" as a contradiction.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment on Clarence Page's column by clicking here.
Archives
© 2007, TMS
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|