Romney gives the faith speech
Many of Mitt Romney’s advisers have been on him for months now to address his religion, but it likely took a new poll out by the Des Moines Register showing him five points behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, that has Romney ready to give his John F. Kennedy speech on religion. Ala Kennedy and his Catholicism in 1960, Romney is preparing to talk about his faith - Mormonism - for the first time this Election season.
Despite the endorsements of many prominent Christian conservative s, including Bob Jones, Paul Weyrich, and David Keene, Romney is still perceived as having problems resonating in socially conservative circles, especially among evangelicals . This could be one of the reasons, if not the reason, his support is slipping in places like Iowa, where the Republican caucus is dominated by social conservative s. Seems like most of these folks are jumping ship to Mike Huckabee, 30 days before the caucus. Being the nerd that I am, I watched a town hall on C-SPAN tonight with Romney, and sure enough, three of the questions from caucus-goers referenced Mike Huckabee.
And that’s the story line here. While there’s some historical relevance to Romney, one of the first Mormons to be competitive in a Presidential race, giving a speech about his faith, the talk smacks of inauthentici ty. Romney has been running for President for more than a year now, and he’s resisted talking about his faith at all costs. All of a sudden he finds himself slipping in the polls to Huckabee, and he decides to give a national talk on “Faith in America.”
Romney’s campaign is saying that the address will be a chance for Mitt to “share his views on religious liberty, the grand tradition religious tolerance has played in the progress of our nation and how the governor’s own faith would inform his presidency if he were elected.” But the underlying reason is that Romney’s being schooled by Huckabee in Iowa, and needs to respond.
Tags: General, BIO, catholic, Catholicism, christian, Evangelicals , Faith, iowa, Mike Huckabee, mitt romney, religion
This situation looks as if it may bring the ideological conflict between the corporate-or iented neocons preaching the gospel of unrestricted capitalism and the more truly populist fundamentali sts, practicing the politics of resentment, who draw most of their followers from a working-clas s and economically struggling demographic group.
The neocons have been able to manipulate the tent-revival crowd up to this point but that grip is slipping as the impacts of job exportation and the attacks on the social safety net hit home. People who are treading water or going down for the third time financially look at Romney and see a slick rich guy, the kind of person that’s always inspired jealousy and resentment in them; Huckabee is a real fundamentali st but, because he is a populist, doesn’t have the corporate and country club crowd backing the Rs think it will take to have a chance of winning next year, so he doesn’t have the backing of the party establishmen t either. It’ll be really interesting to see how this shakes out.
What LJ said. We finally have a spoiler candidate who can drive a wedge between the Corporate Christians and the Christians who actually believe those parts of the Bible about helping others. Should be interesting.
Romney’s in a tough spot with this. He can not give the Kennedy speech, which was all about the separation of church and state. Most GOPers do not even believe there is such a thing, and wholehearted ly endorse the comingling of the two. On the other hand, he can not say that he answers to some council of elders or emulate Brigham Young. Romney should just keep his mouth shut on this one. But if he screws himself, sobeit. I couldn’t care less what happpens to that pandering sleazebag.
JMJ
I don’t know why anyone spends time thinking this one out. This man will not be the Republican candidate for President.
In last week’s Republican debate, Romney stuttered when asked by a viewer if he believed that the Holy Bible was the word of God, explaining that his interpretati on of the “words” might be different from the questioner’s . I’m a non-Mormon from Salt Lake who has studied Mormonism and Mormon history extensively, and the problem for Romney as I see it stems from the fact that Mormons believe in a number of documents as being holy scripture — the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants (which is an on-going work of revelations to the living president of the church, known as the Prophet, Seer and Relevator). All these are supposedly the Word of God. The inconsistenc ies, of course, abound everywhere. For Romney to somehow explain his religion in specific terms will only prove to be embarrasing to the church itself. Frankly, it would have been wiser to follow the advice of his handlers and steer clear of the whole issue. His scheduled speech on Thursday may likely leave a lot of viewers scratching their heads, wondering about his fitness to lead the country.
There’s only 2 reliions I wouldn’t vote for. Democrat and Liberal. Wait make that 3 Muslim.
http://www.y outube.com/w atch?v=DGDm4 jkDbGQ
Hey, Sandy, when did you change your name to Lisa?
Hey LJ isn’t it the same as you wouldn’t vote for a Republican or a Mormon,but opposite?
Lisa,
Last time I checked, neither Demorat, nor liberal were religions. Could you also point out where LJ said he wouldn’t vote for a Mormon as I can’t see it in this thread.
I know those are not reiligions Paul,also LJ doesn’t have to say it for me to already know it. I have a pretty good idea no one here likes the fact he is a Mormon.