As we get near the stupid idea called the Iowa Caucus it is time to start looking hard at the candidates. One candidate who I believe has a pretty good shot at winning the Republican nomination is Mitt Romney. Romney is the former Governor of Massachusetts who basically saved the 2002 Winter Olympics for Salt Lake City. He is, by all accounts, a man of great personal character. What is unique about Governor Romney is that he could be the first Mormon to get the nomination for a major political party.
Now Governor Romney's faith shouldn't be an issue but Mormonism is a bit unique. Most Americans aren't very aware of Mormonism (I'm not a Mormon but have studied the faith a bit) and this could be the soft underbelly for Romney. This posting will examine this soft spot a bit, how it might be exploited and how Romney could respond to make his faith what it is; his personal beliefs.
As I stated earlier Mormonism is basically an unknown to most Americans. They have a distinct history that began in the early 1800's with Joseph Smith stating he received various visions that led to his founding of the Latter Day Saints. Some things that are either unknown or misunderstood (and exploitable) is the idea of God the Father having a body of flesh and bones, that Jesus is created by God the Father, that Satan was created at the same level as Jesus, plural marriages, baptism for the dead, holy undergarments, temple ceremonies, future Godhead for Mormons and the issue with blacks of African descent not being allowed into their idea of priesthood until 1978. These are just my top-of-the-head thoughts and I'm sure many Mormons would disagree with my assessment. Of course, that is part of the problem. Most conservative Christians don't accept Mormonism as part of mainline Christianity yet Mormons want to be accepted as such. Of the likely nominees both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are part of more traditional and mainline Christian faiths.
I believe that if Mitt Romney is the nominee for the Republican party that his faith will be indirectly attacked initially. Of course Clinton and Obama won't directly attack his faith but there will be folks in the Democratic party who's job it will be to go after Christians (many of them conservative) who might not be comfortable voting for a Mormon. I guarantee you, there are millions of them out there and they are ripe to be persuaded. Of course the primary goal of the Democrats will be to get these folks to vote Democrat but will be perfectly happy if most of them vote for the "perfect" third party candidate.
One of the approaches that will be taken will be that Clinton/Obama hold to a traditional Christian faith. They will then get the word out about many of the items I've mentioned above, which the mainstream press (who will mostly favor the Democrat) will eventually jump on and will dog Governor Romney with questions. The Democratic party will be able to appeal to many of the uncomfortable-with-a-Mormon voters to either vote for Clinton/Obama or at least make them uncomfortable enough where they will stand on "principle" and not vote for Romney. It's a solid strategy and will be exploited to the fullest.
Now, how should Governor Romney react to this? I believe the best way he should handle this issue is to stop it before it starts. If he gets close to getting the nomination he should hire a couple of Christians who've studied Mormonism and know what conservative Christians probably think about Mormonism. He should then have them prepare a list of items that Mormons believe and then Romney should hold a press conference to address all the issues, once and for all; even such things as the undergarments and secret handshakes. He should frame everything as something personal but should address each of the items. Romney will also need to state that he understands there are major differences in theology with mainline Christianity (if he really wants them to not vote for him then he can say he's just a different type of Christian) but there are many areas in common. He can then focus on the items where he shares great commonality with many conservative Christians such as life issues, family issues, morals and character, caring for the poor along with many other issues.
I still haven't picked a candidate to support but if Romney is the nominee I will be happy to vote for him in November. I just hope he can give himself a chance to win. All the Democrats need to do is have a little more than 100,000 conservative Ohio Christians stay home instead of voting for Romney. He will need to address his faith more than anyone else ever has but he has nothing to hide.
Tim, do you really think it's appropriate for Romney to defend the doctrinal tenets of his faith? Romney already nailed the religion issue with his speech a couple weeks ago, did you watch it?
On the issues, Romney will deliver for Christian conservatives. If they are so narrow minded to dismiss him for his specific sect, they are religiously intolerant, and are doing exactly what the founders warned against. American politics should not be sectarian, but orbit around political beliefs. We aren't always going to be able to vote for an evangelical Christian. Sometimes it will be an anglican, a baptist, a catholic, etc.
Republicans better get behind this guy, he's the obvious pick for the nomination and would SMOKE Hillary in the general election.
Posted by: Francis at December 31, 2007 01:50 PM
