Today’s Reading List – December 11, 2006
The Romney news over the weekend was dominated by "the gay letter" as it made the NYTimes. John J. Miller says in The Corner:
I haven't seen the letter … but on first glance the hype factor here seems high.
Well, no one has seen the letter because to date only excerpts have been published – telling, I think. (And probably the root of how it will be explained) We are not, however, Romney apologists here. This will be very telling as relates to religion. Romney's current stance is far more in line with his faith, and mine, than what is reflected in the excerpts so far published. Romney has some explaining to do and if he does it right he can kill two issue birds with one stone. Talk about learning through his faith will go a long way with Evangelicals. As Ann Althouse says:
Is he a skillful candidate? It's a good test for the man.
K-lo agrees on the explaining part, but does not see the religious angle. Of course, she's Catholic. I think he'll be fine, but the opposition appears to be forming. Although, I smell a rat. We need to dig a little on this one. This rhetoric level usually indicates more than just politics. No names or affiliations on their site ….
Lowell: Well, I did a little digging and found that The Pondering American has already turned up quite a bit of information on RightMarch PAC. This summary states that this PAC took in $88,075, and managed to give the whopping sum of $3,950 to federal candidates. Everything else went to vendors, including consulting fees. The PAC's Federal Elections Commission filings are here, if you have any desire to dig yourself. You can thank John McCain and Russ Feingold for this sort of nonsense.
And by the way, Dean Barnett writes from first-hand experience about Romney and makes some interesting points about Romney's 1994 comments, including additional information.
One interesting aspect of this type of "scandal" is the MSM's underlying contempt for politically conservative religious people. The assumption is that if Romney said something compassionate or tolerant about the gay community, conservative Evangelicals, Mormons, Fundamentalists, and the like will recoil in horror because they are, after all, knuckle-dragging homophobes. In that regard, I think the discussion that we will now have about this issue may well be quite illuminating.
Oh, one more thing on this subject. Is anybody besides me just a tad bit suspicious that this "broke" while the man was in Asia, away from media, and the ability to explain things? Lowell: Yes!
The apparent '08 field is quite diverse; which the aforementioned K-Lo thinks speaks to the heart of some of the greatest oratory in our history. That is unless, of course, we start making "who to vote for" decisions on silly things.
Polling stronger everyday. Sports analogy: if you can't go undefeated, it's better to do your winning later in the season, especially in the playoffs.
Romney, definitely NOT McCain. Whattaya think? – Primary campaign slogan?
Brownback needs to rememebr he will alienate as many as he endears with this kind of talk. (And stunts like this) I agree with him and all, but smart politics would be a bit more generic – "Religious expression should be encouraged over the holidays, all forms…" something like that. Lowell: It will be interesting to see what impact the entrance into the field of such an overtly, vocally religious candidate will have. In a way, it distracts attention from Romney's religion, since he seldom talks about religion himself. John comes back: The more I see, the more I think Brownback is not serious about the White House, I think his near candidacy is designed to energize a certain segment of voters on certain issues a la' Jesse Jackson. However, Lowell is right, there are ripple effects from such actions and in this case they could be to Romney's benefit.
John Mark Reynolds continues his series defending religious activity in the public discourse. This time he is defending Constantine – the first Christian ruler, and then tying it back into the Christian Right.
Polygamy - NOT! a Mormon issue.
A number of prospective 2008 presidential candidates are betting that the free publicity that comes with the release of a book can't hurt.
Like a serious candidate needs more publicity. However, since Romney does not have a book in the offing, maybe there is an opportunity for Lowell and I?
Here's a new approach to conspiracy theories.
Update by Lowell: Does Jeb Bush prefer Romney? Will that matter? Time will tell.
Posted in Reading List | Comment on this post » | 
Print this post
| 
Email This Post