Pat Robertson: GOP Candidates Ruining 2012 Chances With 'Extreme' Campaigns (VIDEO)
On the Monday episode of his show, "The 700 Club," Pat Robertson, the influential televangelist and media personality of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), suggested that the Republican party is pushing their presidential hopefuls to positions that are too extreme, and might cause the GOP to lose the presidential election.
"Those people in the Republican primary have got to lay off this stuff," Robertson said. "They're forcing their leaders - the frontrunners - into positions that will mean they will lose the general election."
Robertson seemed exasperated when talking about the 2012 race and the stances that Republican candidates have taken on various issues.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"You'll appeal to the narrow base and they’ll applaud the daylights out of what you‘re saying and then you hit the general election and they say 'no way' and then the Democrat - whoever it is - is going to just play these statements to the hills. They’ve got to stop this. It's just so counterproductive," he said with emphasis.
He did not specify which views candidates have expressed that he considers so extreme. Robertson is a former GOP presidential candidate himself.
Early in October, he appears to have endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He declared on his show that he likes Romney's politics and views the Mormon presidential candidate as an "outstanding Christian."
Robertson also said around that time that he would no longer endorse presidential candidates.
"I've personally backed off from direct political involvement," he was quoted as saying. "I've been there, done that."
Robertson, a former Southern Baptist pastor, said at the time he now believed that politics was not going to change the world. But he would continue to comment on the news of the day, and his comment on Romney’s Christianity was perhaps part of that, as CP reported.
"I believe it was Lyndon Johnson who said 'Don’t these people realize that if they push me over to extreme position I'll lose the elections? I'm the one who will be supporting what they want, but they’re going to make it so I can’t win,' " Robertson said Monday, right before his harsh words directed at Republicans.
Robertson might have been referring to many things, as some critics following the GOP campaigns closely have pointed out that the views expressed by some candidates might scare away part of the electorate.
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney – who is no longer a clear frontrunner according to most polls, but is still generally considered the most likely party nominee and is also considered the candidate with least extreme views – issued a controversial statement about the housing market, for which he was harshly criticized by the Democrats.
On Oct. 17, Romney said that in order to repair the housing market politicians should not try to stop the foreclosure process. They should "let it run its course," he said.
The below clip from "The 700 Club" is courtesy of Right Wing Watch:
