Fifteen years ago, this was an important endorsement. A decade ago, it was one that might have made a difference. But let's be honest -- does anyone really care what Pat Robertson says anymore.

Televangelist Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, endorsed Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday.

"It is my pleasure to announce my support for America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, a proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans," Robertson said during a news conference with Giuliani in Washington.

The former New York mayor backs abortion rights and gay rights, positions that put him in conflict with conservative GOP orthodoxy, and has been trying to persuade evangelical conservatives like Robertson to overlook their differences on those issues.

Evangelicals have split in their support for the leading Republican candidates. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a favorite of Christian conservatives who dropped out of the race last month, endorsed fellow Sen. John McCain of Arizona on Wednesday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney recently announced that Paul Weyrich and Bob Jones III were on board with his candidacy.

It isn't that I don't have a certain amount of respect for Robertson -- I do. Rather, it is a question of how relevant he is to the process today. Twenty years ago he was a candidate for the presidency. His star has fallen since then, or rather it has been eclipsed by other leaders on the evangelical right. I just don't know that he is the sort of heavyweight that James Dobson would have to be considered. Indeed, it will only be something for those who hate the religious right, like homosexualist blogger and columnist Andrew Sullivan, to froth about.

Oh, and as for the Brownback endorsement of McCain, I consider it about as relevant as an endorsement from Tommy Thompson, another failed presidential candidate who could not even make it into 2008.