True Discernment

Robertson, himself once a presidential candidate, has largely faded from the national political scene. His surprise endorsement of Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 campaign did little to boost the former New York mayor.

If Robertson’s name is in the news now, it’s only to recount his latest incendiary comment. Which is why it’s puzzling that Romney – an uber-cautious frontrunner – would appear with the former Christian Coalition chief.

The paper trail of Robertson’s is extensive and, along with his advancing age, is the reason why he’s become marginalized. He blamed Hurricane Katrina on America’s abortion policy, explained the Haiti earthquake by claiming the country had made a “pact with the devil,” the list goes on.

In 2007, when Romney was trying to get right with the GOP’s Christian conservative base, he trekked down to Virginia to give the graduation speech at Robertson’s Regent University.

But since then Romney’s top advisers have indicated that they won’t make the mistakes of the last campaign, chief among them pandering to the social conservative base instead of being true to his economic conservative roots.

And so far in this campaign, Romney has avoided the cultural issues of which Robertson is identified. So why would the candidate appear with someone who is still a lightning rod?

Perhaps McWaters, wanting to show his swat to a visiting VIP, simply invited (comp’d?) a prominent local figure. We’ll find out when the next financial reports come out if Robertson contributed. It’s also possible that Romney’s team, wanting to be polite, didn’t deter Robertson from coming and assumed that, because it was a private event, word wouldn’t get out.

In any case, what’s for sure is, if Romney is his party’s nominee, Democrats will relish having these pictures.