Pat Robertson: GOP Candidates Too Extreme, Need To Tone It Down [Video]

Pat Robertson is known for making comments which some would deem extreme. But even the Christian Evangelist preacher is offended by the far right rhetoric of the GOP candidates. On “The 700 Club,” Robertson warns the GOP candidates that if they don’t stop with their extreme right ideas, they’ll lose the election.

Roberston said, according to Christian Post:

“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… 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.”

So000 Robertson isn’t saying that the extreme ideas are wrong, he’s just saying that expressing those ideas is going to scare away voters. In other words, Robertson’s advice to the candidates it to keep their agenda a secret until they win the election. Then once they’re president, they can electrify all the fences, ban all the gay marriages, and criminalize all the abortions they want.

Last night on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart attacked Robertson’s advice for the GOP.

Stewart said:

“Is that Pat “gay people cause hurricanes” Robertson expressing concern for how extreme the Republican party has gotten?… Pat “liberals are akin to Nazi” Robertson believes that Republicans are staking out a position that may be to unappealingly extreme.”

Here’s a clip from the Daily Show. [The Pat Robertson part starts at about 4:10.]

Do you think the GOP’s extreme rhetoric will cost them the election?