Opinion: Giuliani: Pat Robertson’s guy

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Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani has won the endorsement of televangelist and Moral Majority founder Pat Robertson. Robertson, who recently made the news for his suggestion that Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez needed assassinatin’, becomes the most prominent social conservative to back a candidate so far (though Mitt Romney got an important backer yesterday).

It’s a big deal for Giuliani, whose pro-choice stance remains anathema for many a values voter. Indeed, the editorial board recently asked if those voters would throw their weight behind a third party rather than back Giuliani. But as senior editorial writer Michael McGough noted, Giuliani’s abortion position seems less and less pro-choice the more campaign speeches he gives.

A selection of blog reactions....

• The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder explains why the endorsement matters.
• The National Review’s Jim Geraghty gets American Values President Gary Bauer’s reactions.
• Steve Benen says a Robertson endorsement might make things harder for Giuliani in the long run.
• Chris Cillizza at The Fix analyzes the endorsement’s impact on other Republican candidates.