Fatal Attraction: Rudy Giuliani Quietly Courts James Dobson's Religious Right

A funny thing happened to me on the way to see friends in Colorado Springs this past weekend... I ran into Rudy Giuliani, making a stealth, unreported (except for local newspapers) visit to the city nicknamed "the Evangelical Vatican."

I mean... I ran into the freeway traffic from Rudy's appearances in the world headquarters hometown of religious right lobbyist Dr. Jame Dobson's Focus on the Family.

At the time, I was puzzled by the traffic. I hadn't heard of any major political leaders visiting this notoriously conservative Colorado area during my family vacation in the state. And the press and public assumed that all the top Republican 2008 presidential contenders would be in Iowa for the all-important Iowa Republican Party Straw Poll.

The Religious Right's Dilemma: They Don't Like Either Rudy or Mitt
But apparently Rudy, who scored an embarrassing 8th place finish in Iowa with about 1% of the votes, chose to genuflect to Colorado Springs religious right power brokers out of the glare of the national media, which was encamped en masse in Ames, Iowa.

Dr. James Dobson's endorsement is considered by many to be a "must" for a candidate to secure the GOP presidential nomination. Yet per CNN in May 2007, Dobson unequivocally stated:

"I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008... Is Rudy Giuliani presidential timber? I think not.

"Can we really trust a chief executive who waffles and feigns support for policies that run contrary to his alleged beliefs? Will we learn after it is too late just what the former mayor really thinks? What we know about him already is troubling enough."

The problem is that most Christian conservatives don't like Mitt Romney, either, who resoundingly won the Iowa Straw Poll. Many conservative evangelicals deem Romney's religious faith, Mormonism, as not sufficiently Christian, and therefore, unacceptable to them in a U.S. president.

And GOP power broker James Dobson also finds Romney to be unacceptable for his 2008 endorsement.

All in all, the 2008 GOP race for the White House is a dilemma for the religious right, which has grown fond of wielding political power in recent years. "... in a stark shift from the group’s influence under President Bush, the group risks relegation to the margins," observed the New York Times in early 2007.

Rudy Quietly Visits Religious Right Power Brokers
The Colorado press records that Mayor Giuliani shook hands with folks at local eateries; attended a $250-per-person private luncheon at the Broadmoor Resort, near the U.S. Air Force Academy, and attended a private round-table for $1,000 donors at the home of local executive Joel Midkiff .

No official word about who attended the private events, what other events or meetings Mr. Giuliani may have attended, or even how long the former New York mayor was in Colorado Springs. And no word if Mr. Giuliani dropped by Dobson 's Focus on the Family campus, which is only a few miles from his other area events.

But regardless of whether or not he met with James Dobson, Rudy Giuliani's stealth visit to a Mecca of the religious right was a clear bid to curry favor with that powerful Republican constituency.

Rudy's Fatal, Foolish Attraction
And, in my opinion, the New Yorker's visit was a foolish bid to throw away his claim to being a viable alternative to the tired, bigoted politics of the religious right, which heartily endorsed Bush-Cheney in 2000 and 2004.

Sen. John McCain famously first lost his moderate label, and therefore his distinctiveness as a independent-thinking, straight-talking GOP candidate, when in 2006 McCain courted Rev. Jerry Falwell, who he had previously dubbed an "agent of intolerance."

Like McCain before 2006, Rudy Giuliani now leads the national presidential polls among Republicans precisely because his candidacy and his beliefs are a desperately sought GOP alternative to the politics of James Dobson, Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell.

Without doubt, Rudy Giuliani will throw his lead away if he kowtows to the religious right. It's entirely understandable why the mayor kept mum on his ill-advised Colorado Springs visit.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama must be thrilled at Rudy's fatal, foolish pandering... as I believe that Rudy Giuliani is the only Republican candidate who can beat either of them in the 2008 presidential race.

(Photo: Marc Serota/Getty Images)

Related Reading
CNN, May 18, 2007: Christian right leader writes off Giuliani
The Nation, July 16, 2007: The Swift-boating of Mitt Romney
Washington Monthly, September 2005: Mitt Romney's Evangelical Problem
Think Progress, April 2, 2006: McCain Says Jerry Falwell is No Longer an ‘Agent of Intolerance’