Televangelist Pat Robertson says that Republican primary voters are forcing their candidates into “extreme positions” than could cost them the general election.
I believe it was Lyndon Johnson that said, ‘Don’t these people realize if they push me over to an extreme position I’ll lose the election? And I’m the one who will be supporting what they want but they’re going to make it so I can’t win.’ Those people in the Republican primary have got to lay off of this stuff. They’re forcing their leaders, the frontrunners, into positions that will mean they lose the general election. Now whether this did it to Cain I don’t know, but nevertheless, you 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 hilt. They’ve got to stop this! It’s just so counterproductive!
The stunningness of this coming from Robertson notwithstanding, this is actually a perennial lament for both parties. He’s apparently talking about Herman Cain, who isn’t going to win and quite possibly is running to sell books and market himself as a public speaker, anyway. Thus far, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman have mostly avoided the trap and Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and others seem to need little prompting to say whatever the base wants to hear.
Hat tips: RightWingWatch via ThinkProgress via Matt Duss
