Robertson Pledges to Use His Religious Powers to Win Delegate Races

After a tumultuous reception and chants of “We want Pat,” Pat Robertson--faith-healer, television evangelist and probable presidential candidate--pledged at a rally here last week to use his religious powers to help his Christian supporters win Tuesday’s Michigan primary.

“One day, there are going to be millions of people who say, in Michigan, the tide turned. Everybody in this nation who cares about traditional values, especially the Christians of the nation, are looking to you. . . . And that’s why you are here today, because you realize that this is your country, and you are going to see that this country continues strong and free and to the glory of Almighty God,” Robertson said.

From the crowd, “Amen” and “Praise the Lord” echoed back.

Finally, from Robertson, a man who believes that he can heal the sick and hold back storms through the power of faith and prayer, came the promise: “I want to tell you, I’m going to pray for you, that a miracle is going to take place, and that when the election is over, I want it to be said that every one of you has won his election as a precinct delegate.”

A Multitiered Process

The election is Michigan’s GOP primary, in which thousands of local delegates will be elected, beginning a multitiered process that will eventually result in the selection of the state’s delegation to the 1988 Republican national convention. And Robertson, the 56-year-old “born-again” minister from Virginia, is in the thick of it.

Known and loved by millions of faithful Christian viewers of his nationally televised show, “The 700 Club,” he is a force to be reckoned with inside the evangelical community.

And he has become one of the most intriguing political stories of 1986. Robertson has been offering hope that he can ease the pent-up frustrations and anxieties of evangelical conservatives over abortion, pornography, prohibitions against school prayer and communism abroad. Meanwhile, his political education committee, the Freedom Council, has recruited about 4,500 precinct delegate candidates through evangelical churches across the state.

Major Political Coup

Indeed, Robertson has already pulled off his first major political coup here in Michigan. The success of his fledgling political organization, made up mostly of politically inexperienced evangelicals, has shaken the Republican Party leadership and surprised the national news media, which has suddenly been forced to treat Robertson as a serious presidential candidate.

Robertson’s success has sent off alarms in the rival camps of two presidential contenders, Vice President George Bush and Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.), about the potential political power that a committed band of evangelicals can wield.

“When Pat Robertson said he was interested in running for President, in my spirit I said, ‘Hallelujah!’ ” exclaimed Mary Dahn, 41, a mother of four from Mt. Clemens, Mich. “We need a Christian man, someone who knows right from wrong, someone who isn’t confused about whether killing innocent babies inside their mothers’ wombs is right or wrong,” she added, starting to thump her fist against her chest.

Quotes Lincoln, Jefferson

But Pat Robertson, the politician, knows there aren’t enough Mary Dahns in America to elect a President. So, as he gets closer to deciding whether to mount a formal bid for the presidency, another very different Pat Robertson is emerging, one who is trying to reach out to the secular mainstream.

For instance, in a dinner speech to a convention of newspaper publishers in Williamsburg, Va., just three days before his Dearborn rally, Robertson quoted Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Dwight D. Eisenhower, but never once the Bible. He spoke of his opposition to budget deficits, waste in the defense Establishment, illiteracy among the poor, the Communist threat in Nicaragua and Afghanistan, but made no mention of his belief that he has the God-given ability to work miracles and speak in tongues.

He even drank a beer with his meal but did not offer a prayer over dinner.

Later, Robertson defended his change in style, insisting: “It is appropriate to order one’s remarks so that they are appropriate to the audience. But the message is always the same. I don’t change my message; I just talk about issues that interest the group I’m talking to.”

Changes Tones Casually

Added Robert Slosser, a close Robertson associate, “You don’t go into the National Press Club to give a speech and speak in tongues and pray for the sick.”

Robertson changes tones casually and openly, knowing that he must appeal to the non-evangelical community as a Reagan Republican, not as a leader of the religious right wing, if he is to have a shot at the Republican nomination. Robertson seems to believe that his base among “born-again” Christians is so secure that he can safely reach out to win mainstream legitimacy without fear of losing his core following.

But apart from the die-hard loyalists who attend his rallies, Robertson appears to have made little headway in winning over secular voters, while his support within the evangelical community also seems surprisingly limited.

A recent Detroit News poll found that 74% of Michigan voters would be unlikely to vote for Robertson for President. And a nationwide Los Angeles Times Poll in July also found that voters, by a margin of 2 1/2 to 1, are less likely to vote for a candidate if he describes himself as an evangelical Christian.

Kemp Has More Support

“A lot of people assume that Robertson has the Christian evangelical community, and that’s just not the case,” said Robert Dugan, president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals. A recent poll by his group found that Kemp, who holds views similar to Robertson’s on many major issues, had more than twice as much support among “born-again” ministers than did Robertson, Dugan said.

Part of Robertson’s problem is that his evangelical base is restricted mainly to the “charismatic” and “Pentecostal” religious communities, which account for only about 15% of the “born-again” population. Robertson is a charismatic himself, and shares the charismatics’ belief in the power of the Holy Spirit to empower men to heal the sick and speak in tongues.

But much of the rest of the evangelical community, including the largest “born-again” group, the fundamentalist Baptists, believe that those religious practices are misguided, and many also think that it is wrong for preachers to get into politics.

Unable to Broaden Base

Jerry Curry, a former Robertson aide who helped organize his drive in Michigan, contends that Robertson “has not been able to broaden his base over the past year, since he started thinking about running. If he can’t get the other evangelicals, as well as the non-evangelicals, to support him, he’s dead in the water.”

Robertson continues to insist that he is winning strong support from all wings of the evangelical movement. “There are quite a few in the Baptist community asking and encouraging me to run,” he said.

Still, mixed feelings show up even among the delegate candidates recruited by the Freedom Council.

To retain its tax-exempt status as a nonprofit charitable organization, the Freedom Council could not openly advocate a particular candidate or limit its delegate-recruitment drive to those who support Robertson. So, although the majority of Freedom Council delegates are conservative, “born-again” Christians, many are uncommitted or are leaning to Kemp over Robertson.

Curry estimates that only one-half to two-thirds of the Freedom Council’s delegates are committed to Robertson.

“I like him, but I’m not sure in a national election Robertson would be the best candidate for the Republican Party,” said Richard Dalton, the 35-year-old pastor of an evangelical church outside Detroit who was recruited as a Freedom Council delegate. “I like Jack Kemp a lot, but it is a little early for me to make up my mind.”

“I think it is real questionable how many Freedom Council delegates will support Robertson,” added Laura Balyeat, 32, a Freedom Council candidate for a delegate position in the Detroit suburb of Troy. “Right now, if it was between Kemp and Robertson, I don’t know which way I would go.”

Bloodless Politicians

Still, in an era of bloodless politicians and bland campaigns, there is little to compare with the fervor of those who do support Robertson. (He drew a crowd of about 3,000 at a fund-raising dinner Saturday night at the Anaheim Convention Center.)

“I’m a Christian, I believe in a godly standard, and I wanted to be supportive of people with like standards,” said Marsha LaRose, a 42-year-old mother of five from Adrian, Mich. “And I think God will honor that, when we all stand together. He is going to bless us.”

“I’ve loved Pat for years. He’s influenced my family in tremendous ways,” said Jean Lynn, a candidate for a delegate position in Lincoln Park, Mich., and a loyal “700 Club” viewer. “I think America is going to see there are a lot more Christians than they ever knew about. We’re making our voice known.”

And Robertson remains confident that such support will start coming from the secular wing of the Republican Party soon enough. He believes that it will come because he is the heir to Ronald Reagan’s legacy. “I go right down the line with Reagan on most things, and people don’t want to go back from Reagan,” he said.

“They also know that I’ve been in there fighting on the moral issues for a long time, not just in the last election cycle.”