Former New York City Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani will headline a campaign fundraiser for former Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed. The luncheon event, slated for May 18, 2006, will mark the second time that Giulani has been the featured speaker for a Reed campaign fundraiser.
Reed's campaign for lieutenant governor in Georgia is struggling in the polls, and his support is eroding among his conservative Christian base, due to his ties to convicted former lobbyist Jack Ambramoff, who has been sentenced to 70 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion, and fraud.
Reed's campaign has distributed an invitation marked by a smiling photo of the two Republican leaders together, according to an Associated Press Newswire report today. For now, that's about the best way for Reed to put a smiling face on a campaign that is
steeped in the stench of corruption.
What does Giuliani stand to gain? It is widely believed that Giuliani is reaching out to religious conservatives because he's considering a run for the White House.
Even so, Giulani apparently fails to realize that Reed is disfavored by 44 percent of conservative Christian voters in Georgia, and even fewer of them give him a favorable rating.
Tickets for the luncheon range from $100 to $5,000. The event is expected to boost Reed's flagging campaign, which is down, but a long way from out.
Time Magazine reported on January 31, 2006, that Giuliani had previously headlined a fundraiser for Reed, even as the Christian Coalition's Pat Robertson has declared that Rudy would make a good president.
The Catholic mayor is also busy burnishing his ties to Christian conservatives. Pat Robertson has said Rudy would make "a good president" and the mayor was a headliner for a fundraising committee supporting former Christian Coalition executive Ralph Reed in his bid to be Georgia's lieutenant governor. Last week, Giuliani dropped by an Orlando meeting of the Global Pastors Network and told the Evangelical leaders that "only God knows" if he will run for president. The group offered their prayers for him and he responded in kind, showing an openly devout side not many people had seen before: "I can't tell you from my heart how much I appreciate what you are doing - saving people, telling them about Jesus Christ and bringing them to God."
If Christian groups want to bring people closer to God, that's admirable. They can start by bringing self-styled religious prophets like Reed closer to accountability for his hypocrisy and profit-making as a gambling lobbyist working with his close personal friend and business partner Jack Abramoff.