Today’s Reading List – October 9,2007
Mitt speaks plainly…
Can you blame him? After last week's Newsweek cover story, he responded:
I am an American running for president, not a Mormon running for president, but I am also very proud of my faith. And I am not a cafeteria Mormon, choosing some parts to accept and reject—I am "true blue, through and through." My family and I are better people and far happier than we would have been without our faith. It is puzzling that when NEWSWEEK looks at me ("A Mormon's Journey: The Making of Mitt Romney," Oct.
what you mostly see is a Mormon. I would have thought that more important to my potential presidency would be my record as a governor, 25-year business leader, Olympic CEO, father, husband—and American.
Makes a heck of a point doesn't he? His narrative is much larger than The Question.
Lowell: I'll add only one tidbit, which I think is quite revealing. The beginning paragraphs of the Newsweek article set the stage for the Mormon-focused theme. A Newsweek reporter apparently visited the building that had been the Mormon meetinghouse the Governor attended as a child. He or she discussed that with the Governor:
Seated in a plane between campaign stops near the olive groves of northern California, Romney hears of such a visit and the wattage seeps out of his smile. . . . Never has a man so polished looked so uncomfortable.
Do you get the story's theme? Romney really, really wants to avoid talking about his faith.
Except the conversation may not have gone that way at all. I spoke yesterday to a friend, a man who was sitting right by Romney in that airplane when the Newsweek reporter asked that question. My friend was astonished at the reporter's version of the inteview; Romney, he says, did not miss a beat, did not change his smile, and was not even close to looking uncomfortable. Now, you might conclude that my friend was simply seeing the matter through pro-Romney lenses, or you might conclude that the Newsweek reporter was embellishing the story. But which of those two possibilities do you think is more plausible?
Only Now…
That Romney is the guy clearly on the dance card, is Guiliani reaching out. Who's the leader in teh primary race again?
And the MSM may be beginning to figure it out.
In The Meantime…
The suggestions continue, and this, despite the fact I agree with the sentiment quite a bit, may be the worst advice ever given to Romney on The Question and a speech. In one suggestion for a speech, Craig Chamberlain would have Romney chastise many average voters and dare those self-same voters not to vote for him. Such plain speaking, while understandable, is why people like me don't run for office.
Romney has a religious problem?!
Yeah, but it is paltry compared to Obama:
Barack Obama has put his religion back into the headlines, trumpeting the power and salvation of faith and asking a church audience in South Carolina to help him become “an instrument of God” and join him in creating “a Kingdom right here on Earth." [emphasis added]
Now, about those theocracy concerns.
Lowell: It will be fascinating to see if Obama gets a pass from the MSM on this.
Finally…
Some Christians are beginning to think about the line. Over-reaction is a matter of course, I guess.
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coltakashi on 09 Oct 2007 at 1:53 pm #
Any Republican who speaks on any political topic in a church is immediately denounced by the media as a theocrat crossing the line of separation between church and state. Yet Bill Clinton, Obama and other Democrats do it all the time, without any threats to the churches that host them about losing their tax exempt status or being fined for making a campaign contribution by providing the forum.
There is no question that Mitt Romney doing anything like this would be denounced for having an intent to forcibly convert everyone to Mormonism, and creating a theocratic monarchy. Obama’s statement, at the very least, conveys what I see as a bit of megalomania. The news media condemn President Bush for praying about his decisions, saying that he assumes that he is God’s agent. Yet Obama seems to be explicitly seeking to be anointed like David as the new king of a new kingdom.
Obama’s statements on foreign policy demonstrate naivete and arrogance–making buddies with America’s enemies while offending our allies. His statements this week that he intends to stop all new construction of coal-fired power plants mean that he is either totally out of touch with reality, or believes that America will be “better” if we are poorer and colder, with artificial shortages of goods and services ala the Soviet Union.