Today’s Reading List – June 6, 2007 | Article VI Blog

IN TUESDAY NIGHT'S DEBATE, Romney addressed The Question more directly and fully than I think he has yet. Wolf Blitzer asked Romney to respond to a recent New Hampshire poll reporting that 10% of voters would not vote for him because he is a Mormon. Blitzer also mentioned the recent incident in which a New Hampshire man refused to shake Romney's hand. The Governor's response:

President Kennedy some time ago said he was not a Catholic running for president, he was an American running for president; and I'm a proud member of my faith. You know, I think it's a fair question for people to ask, "What do you believe?" And I think as you want to understand what I believe you recognize that the values that I have are the same values you'll find in faiths across the country. I believe in God; believe in the Bible; believe Jesus Christ is my Savior; I believe that God created man in His image; I believe that the freedoms of man derive from inalienable rights that were given to us by God. I also believe that there are some pundits out there that are hoping that I'll distance myself from my church so that'll help me politically, and that's not going to happen.

K-Lo's take on this:

I love that Romney made clear he won't do a Kennedy. He will not distance himself from who he is and what he believes. He will not separate Mormon Romney from candidate Romney. That's an important witness, whatever religion you are. And he cut to the heart of what a lot of the buzz about the Mormon Factor is about: much of the media doesn't like conservative religious folk, whatever your denomination.

Even the WaPo called this "an eloquent answer."

Not surprisingly, in Salt Lake City's Deseret News, Romney's answer on religion dominated coverage:

After the speech, in a Saint Anselm College gym-turned-"Spin Room," Romney's son Tagg said questions about his father's faith came up when he ran for governor of a predominantly Catholic state.

"As time went on, people realized that he wasn't running as a Mormon for office," Tagg Romney said. "The issue of religion faded into the background."

Tagg Romney said he would not take a Kennedy-esque speech about religion completely off the table yet for his dad but does not foresee a need for it at this point.

He said voters need to get to know his dad, see what he did for the successful Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics, in business, and for Massachusetts.

LATE UPDATE: Don't miss the YouTube clip linked here. If you've been reading what pundits have to say about the debate, you might be very surprised at what Frank Luntz has to say.

ON THE SUBJECT OF CANDIDATES AND RELIGION, a reader e-mails the following:

Last night CNN devoted two hours in two different forums to interviews with the Democratic presidential candidates about their faith. I assume that the Republican counterparts will get their turn soon.

First, Soledad O'Brien interviewed Clinton, Obama and Edwards at an event sponsored by the Reverend Jim Wallis of Sojourners.

Next, Paula Zahn followed up with Biden, Richardson, Dodd and Kucinich.

In general, I would make two observations. First, all the candidates are facing more questioning about their own faith this year than in prior campaigns. Second, some of the questions — such as "Do you take communion?" — seem a little intrusive. So with regard to potential exposure of The Question to Romney, it would seem that the ground rules for the general field are being modified.

I think our reader is right. Ruth Marcus of the WaPo comments further. Her piece has too much too summarize; here's a taste:

In the 2008 campaign, said David Kuo, former deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, it's the Democratic candidates who sound like evangelicals, and the Republicans — Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain — who sound like secularists.

"There's this great irony that the Democrats have learned Bush's lesson on faith this time around better than the Republicans," Kuo said. "You've got Romney terrified of talking about his faith, Giuliani who wants to talk about religion even less than Romney does and McCain, who comes from a generation of public reticence in talking about his faith."

As much as I hate to admit it, that also has the ring of truth. But, but . . . I think Kuo overstates his case. Romney is not "terrified" of talking about Mormonism; he simply doesn't want to pour gasoline on a fire that's already being stoked daily by dozens of MSM outlets and pundits. Last night's response shows that Romney will not run away from his faith. There can be little doubt that Romney is a deeply religious man; Mormons who serve as bishops and stake presidents generally "have the goods" in that respect. Giuliani and McCain, on the other hand, simply don't have any evidence in their personal lives that they are religious at all. (Maybe they are; but that would be news to just about everyone watching.)

As for the Democrats, they are johnnie-come-latelies to the whole religion area. Does anyone doubt that Hillary Clinton, for example, would be talking about her faith if she didn't think doing so would help her politically? Marcus correctly puts the matter in political terms:

The University of Akron's John C. Green, an expert on religion and politics, said that while Republicans in 2006 mostly kept their hold on evangelical voters, Democrats were more successful in peeling off white Catholics, who went 54 percent to 45 percent for the GOP in 2004 and 50-49 Democratic last year.

Indeed, Democrats' best hopes for 2008 and beyond may not be in mobilizing a "religious left," which will inevitably be smaller than its conservative counterpart — Kuo calls it a "corner grocery" to the right's "Wal-Mart." Rather, the Democrats could make inroads by luring moderate evangelicals and Catholics who once voted Democratic but have drifted away.

Will this work? Think of it as the Democrats' own faith-based initiative.

Indeed. And while we are talking about politics, Dean Barnett said something important this morning about Tuesday night's debate:

One last word about these debates: I wonder how many of these engagements John Kerry won in 2004. And I know how many George W. Bush won in 2000 – 0. My point is that while we political junkies groove on these things, the rest of America has better ways to spend its time.

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