Today’s Reading List – April 3, 2007 | Article VI Blog

Lowell is on vacation, we may hear from him as his rest allows, but in the meantime, I shall carry on – which is fine since the shoes will be on the other feet next week.

WOW! And this is an entirely predictable and terribly sad reaction. It is entirely natural that Romney will attract unprecedented levels of support from Mormons, although I have not seen any figures on how much of this incredible total is from Mormons, but that does not make it conspiratorial, and to imply to the contrary….

FOXNews "The Journal Editorial Report" featuring the WSJ editorial staff discussed Romney. Blessed relief from The Question. The word "Mormon" appears nowhere in the transcript! Let's see, a conservative editorial board on a more-or-less conservative news channel, and no mention of religion; what can we learn from this?

How about that the left has really, and I mean really, has got it in for religion. Obama as Christ!?!? – Ah, blasphemy for openers, there's a good sign. What can I say? I am truly flabbergasted at this one. Yes, the dark, teeny-tiny-visible-only-in-the-idiotic-dungeons-of-the-blogosphere corners of the uber-right have accused Romney of blasphemy because of the some Mormon theology, but actually executing idolatrous blasphemy treads all sorts of new ground. And those interviewed for this piece! Those on the right that are concerned about Romney's faith, better wise up, because this is the alternative, and it is not good.

Newsmax profiles Romney. Two key graphs:

Despite the media fixation on his religion, it's difficult to find national evangelical leaders who openly oppose Romney on religious grounds. Not so liberal pundits.

Sure seems to be the case to us, the concerns of Dobson and Mohler notwithstanding. And much later:

"The term 'Christian' means different things to different people," Romney says. "And so I don't try and describe my faith in terms of categories. Instead I tell them what I believe. And I believe in God. I believe in marriage. I believe in family. I believe in helping people, in service and compassion. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and is my savior.

As I watch the debate about whether Mormons are "Christians" rage on and on, I think the Governor is dead nuts on here – it's a fight that is frankly unimportant to the race at hand. What label gets put on Romney is far less impoartant, than who he is, what he has done, and whether he can be relied upon to do what he says he will do.

Politco reviews the Hewitt book.

Hewitt fires back: "The Left will relish the assault on Romney's faith, treating it as the soft underbelly of a more generalized assault on the idea of religious belief leading, they hope, to the routine dismissal from the public's consideration as leaders any man or woman who believes in revelation as well as reason."

It's not being too cruel to Weisberg, Hitchens and Linker to say that this overstates their importance in the '08 race. Romney's Mormonism is the biggest weakness not among liberals, who'll presumably be marking their ballots for the Hillary/Obama/Kucinich/whoever ticket. It's a killer among religious conservatives who consider the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints illegitimate or even abominable.

Boy, talk about a "refutation" that completely misses the point. Hewitt does not contend that Mormonism is a big deal to liberals, religion in general is. The left wants the right to disqualify Romney based on religion so they can start claiming religious disqualifications for candidates of more mainstream religions – it's as simple as that. Of course they are not going to vote for Romney, or any other Republican. Such a myopic focus on only one aspect of a much larger question says to me that Politico may share the left's agenda here.

Lowell: Hello! Dropping in from vacation. (On a day like today I couldn't stay away.) I don't know if Politico shares the left's agenda, but Politico author David Weigel, an associate editor of the libertarian magazine Reason, certainly shares the left's tendency to ridicule religion and religious people. Consider this graph, in which Weigel shows his true colors:

Hewitt's analysis never really coheres. The short version of it follows. First, Americans — especially Christians — are basically decent, and there's no religious test for office; if the media are fair, and people learn about Mormonism, it will benefit Romney. Second, if skeptical conservatives — in South Carolina especially — attack Romney's faith, it will benefit Romney because "any overt displays of this animus will produce sympathy in the North and even in other places in the South." Third, Mormons will be so excited by the Romney candidacy that they'll beat down doors in Iowa; they "will deliver not just themselves but their non-Mormon friends and neighbors to the caucuses en masse and do so with a full grasp of the rules and a deep experience in patience that comes from knocking on thousands and thousands of doors during their time as missionaries."

Does anyone else get a whiff of ridicule from Weigel's language? He asserts further: "The sight of battle-hardened Mormon missionaries campaigning for Romney would obviously lead to uncomfortable questions."

What? I am a former Mormon missionary. Do you think if I came by your door in Iowa, urging you to vote for Mitt, you would even know I once was a missionary? (We give up the white shirts, ties, and nametags when we come home, you know.) For an intelligent person to resort to uninformed, obtuse argument like that, coupled with ridicule, tells us all we need to know about whether Weigel is a serious commentator.

John's right– it's religious people running for office who upset the left. And the irrefutable fact remains that the only loud, high-profile voices attacking Romney for his religion — Jacob Weisberg and Damon Linker– have come from the left, in respectable liberal publications– Slate and the New Republic. Liberals need to own that, and perhaps engage in a little introspection.

Update: Those interested in the religion issue may want to check in on a Washington Post on-line discussion today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time with Hugh Hewitt, about his book "A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know About Mitt Romney." I must say, Hugh's timing in getting his book published has been superb.

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