Yesterday, Rudy Giuliani received the endorsement of prominent Christian conservative (and former presidential candidate) Pat Robertson. Over the years Robertson has developed quite the reputation for his outlandish comments including a call to nuke the State Department.
While the endorsement does help Giuliani with certain conservatives, I'm not sure whether it's a net gain for his campaign. As a Christian and Republican myself, I don't have a lot of respect for Pat Robertson and, in my own experience, I don't know many conservative Christians who do either. Many Christians see his comments on knowing the will of God as embarrassing to the faith and quite possibly blasphemous.
This all leads to the peril of celebrity endorsement. Between now and next November Giuliani is going to have to answer for any craziness that Robertson decides to put out there. Corporations know all too well what can happen when one of their superstars makes a mistake.
A few years ago, one of the major stories revolving the Kobe Bryant rape case was his endorsement of Sprite. When Bryant was prosecuted, Sprite immediately canceled the contract but there were still lots of press reports that contained "Sprite" and "rape." Celebrity endorsement is a double-edged sword and any deal should be closely considered before you embrace any individual endorsement.
Looking into the future I see a press conference where Giuliani faces down the following question: "Mr. Giuliani, Pat Robertson has claimed that the reason we haven't captured Osama Bin Ladin is that America continues to tolerate the sin of homosexuality. Do you think we'll find Bin Ladin if we start prosecuting homosexuals?"
1 comment:
The perils of celebrity endorsement are great indeed! My question: who is advising Pat Robertson? Has he forgotten his key publics? Although I'm not a conservative Christian, my understanding of this denomination leads me to believe that conservative 'family values' and lifestyle issues are at the core of their political identity. How can their spiritual leader support a candidate whose beliefs and political leanings contradict these core values? It seems to me that Robertson is misleading his flock in favor of supporting the candidate with the best chance of competing with the democrats? Has Robertson forgotten the rules? How will he explain this folly to his followers?
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