Political leaders may be able to steer within party votes in the primaries, and religious leaders may serve the same function. For social conservatives, therefore, a leading religious leader may help guide them to the candidate who caters to their most important issues. However, a politician aligning him or herself with this leader may also drive the more secular far, far away.
Take for instance Pat Robertson’s endorsement of Rudy Giuliani. It may have come as a surprise that the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and a televangelist supports a candidate who in the past has been pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, and who has publicly worn the A of adultery. But they agree on one thing: stopping the Islamic “blood lust.” That speaks to some conservative hawks, but Robertson’s loose mouth also drives some moderates away. After all, he’s the same religious leader who said that the feminine agenda “encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians,” that the leader of Israel, Ariel Sharon, had a massive stroke because he was giving land to the Palestinians, and that an explosion of a nuclear device in the State Department would be good for the country. With endorsements like these, who needs opponents?
As much as endorsements seek to bolster a candidate, they only really work if we, the voter, like or agree with the endorsee. In other cases, we find their backing irrelevant, unimportant, or fodder for reasons not to vote for that candidate. Celebrities and big names may not influence us, but they make the race that much more fun to watch.
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