Today’s Reading List – November 6, 2006

Posted by: John Schroeder at 06:49 am, November 6th 2006 — Comment on this post »

The WSJ (subscription required) looks at one specific Mormon prophecy and how it relates to Romney's potential run. We've discussed that prophecy briefly on this blog before – here and here. I think the Journal handles it pretty well. Lowell: As the Journal piece makes clear, most informed observers consider much of this prophecy, known popularly as "the White Horse Prophecy," to be folklore. For those interested, there's an in-depth analysis here; the "Summary and Conclusions" section on page 10 is worth reading. And, for what it's worth, as a life-long Mormon I've never heard the White Horse Prophecy described as Church doctrine, or indeed, as anything more than an interesting tale. My personal experience is that when Mormon office-seekers cite that "prophecy" as the reason they are running, other Mormons simply roll their eyes.

Inside how to put a campaign together – if there ends up being one. Will the lack of an elected office platform help or hurt a Romney campaign? A bit more about how it is coming together in Iowa. Lowell: It didn't hurt Richard Nixon, James Earl Carter, Jr., or Ronald Reagan, to name a few modern examples. (The most compelling historical example is Lincoln, who served a single term in congress almost 20 years before he was elected president.)

The view from Australia – very left wing. Most interesting thing – in an article about how Iraq effects the mid-terms and beyond – why do they have to bring up Romney's faith?

Andrew Sullivan writing for a British audience on tomorrow's elections and ramifications for '08. It's mostly his usual rantings, but in his brief paragraph re: Romney one has to wonder if he simply lacks political astuteness or is engaged in wishful thinking. Giuliani is fading into the woodwork, rapidly.

Offbeat update from Lowell: Orson Scott Card is a well-known science fiction author and frequent commenter on societal-cultural matters. He's also a Democrat and a high-profile Mormon. So his comments here on the state of the Democratic Party might be of interest to readers of this blog, even if only in a tangential way as an example of the absence of monolithic thinking among Mormons. It's a long essay but worth the time. (HT: InstaPundit, who as usual says, "Read the whole thing," and The Valletta Papers.)