Article VI Blog

. . . is not terribly meaty. But there is some interesting commentary out there. Read on:

THIS MCCLATCHY WRITER quotes Matthew Wilson of Southern Methodist University, "an expert in elections, religion and politics," with this interesting observation and prediction:

‘‘Religious conservatives and the Republican Party are really at a crossroads now,’’ Wilson said. ‘‘There’s been this close alliance between the two for 30 years, and I think both sides are . . . questioning for the first time whether it really serves their interests.

. . .
The partnership could abruptly self-destruct, Wilson said.

‘‘If Giuliani ends up as the presidential nominee, the marriage between the Republican Party is going to end in an ugly divorce,’’ Wilson said. And because George W. Bush’s win in 2004 relied heavily on evangelical Protestants, Giuliani would likely lose if many of them stay home, Wilson said.

On the other hand, if Romney or McCain gets the nomination, the alliance will continue, he said.

My first response to that last italicized sentence is, "Huh?" I hope Wilson's right, but it would have been nice to see some of his reasoning. Some prognostications just raise more questions than they answer, I guess.

FURTHER EVIDENCE THAT SOME THINGS ARE VERY SLOW TO CHANGE appears in this Buffalo News editorial, which lists "several fascinating questions about American politics [that] will be answered in 2008," including this one:

Does religion still matter? Although Mormons often are as politically conservative as white Southern fundamentalist Christians — Utah is the most Republican state in the nation over the last 50 years — many Southern Baptist leaders have expressed theological skepticism over whether Romney is really a Christian. Rank-and-file voters are suspicious, too. Only 40 percent of voters think the country is ready to elect a Mormon, while nearly half (48 percent) said no. More voters admitted they were less likely to vote for a Mormon (29 percent) than a woman (13 percent) or a black candidate (6 percent). Until proven otherwise, Romney’s religion remains a potential negative “X-factor.”

Those are old questions now, but it's significant that they're still being asked.

HERE'S A SELF-DESCRIBED JEWISH LIBERAL WRITER who says "This liberal would like to be able to vote for a Mormon." She comes to that conclusion by focusing on Mormons' values and general behavior. Seems like we've seen that same approach suggested somewhere . . . .
ANOTHER MCCLATCHY WRITER reports on Romney's growing momentum in early primary states Iowa and New Hampshire, and notes on, well, potential fly in the ointment:

In Iowa, the recent Register poll found that 1 out of 5 Republicans said they were less likely to vote for Romney because of his faith. But Mueller suggested that social conservatives eventually would care more about what Romney would do in the Oval Office than what he would do in church.

"Is there an undercurrent out there nervous about the Mormon thing? Sure. But they really want to know where he stands on the issues they care about," Mueller said.

Once again, someone who thinks like we do.

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