Today’s Reading List – October 30, 2007 | Article VI Blog

Fred Siegel is all excited about Mike Huckabee's speech at the Values Voters Summit, and ties that performance in to Mitt Romney:

Taking a shot at Mitt Romney, he drew cheers when, speaking in the cadences of a man at the pulpit, he insisted “it’s important that the language of Zion is a mother tongue and not a recently acquired second language.” The argument took. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council concluded that Huckabee “comes out of here clearly as a favorite.” The rank and file attendees concurred. In an event where all the major candidates spoke, Huckabee was the runaway winner with 50 percent support (with Romney a distant second at 10 percent).

This is potentially a very troubling statement. Is Huckabee's biblical allusion to "Zion" and "language" limited to Romney's supposed conversion to a pro-life position? Or is it a sly reference to Romney not being a "real" member of the creedal Christian "club?" And for which reason does Siegel like it? It's one thing for Huckabee to make a questionable statement; it's another for Seigel to seize on it gleefully.

John Responds: There is little doubt Huckabee was attractive at the Values Voters Summit. There is little doubt in my mind that he designed his presentation to be so appealing. He has made constant reference to "being one of you," or something to that affect. That Huckabee is reaching out, effectively, to at least a certain segment of Evangelicals cannot be denied.

Frankly, that's politics. The critical question is does it rise to the level of bigotry? I'm not sure, but it sure is close enough to smell it. The best analogy I can think of is Jesse Jackson's various runs. What Jackson did, effectively, was corner the black vote in an effort to gain personal influence. I am beginning to wonder if Huckabee does not have something similar in mind? He knows he cannot win, but he could broker a deal, or at least thinks he could.

Were Jackson's actions bigotry? I am not sure, but they did not help blacks advance in the mainstream of political activity. Segregating oneself as a voting bloc removes political manuvuering capability, which reduces effectiveness.

Even a reasonable Democrat seems to wonder what is going on.

Lowell muses: I want to be fair and avoid over-reacting. But I am compelled to wonder: Imagine that Huckabee the Baptist is running for governor of Utah against Romney. Got that? Now imagine a report like this about Romney speaking to an audience in Salt Lake City's Mormon Tabernacle:

Taking a shot at Mike Huckabee, Romney drew cheers when, speaking in the cadences of an LDS leader, he insisted “it’s important that the language of Zion is a mother tongue and not a recently acquired second language.” The argument took. Joseph Kimball of the Utah Conservative League concluded that Huckabee “comes out of here clearly as a favorite.” The rank and file attendees concurred. In an event where all the major candidates spoke, Romney was the runaway winner with 50 percent support (with Huckabee a distant second at 10 percent).

Could Romney ever get away with that?

And John Continues…

The MSM continues to wish for the end of the Religious Right. It remains too early to know for sure. Call me when the general is over. And here is a bit of food for thought in that vein.

In South Carolina can hard work overcome the presumed religious bias?

“If I ever ran for the president of the United States, I’d want to do it like Mitt Romney,” said Samuel Harms, chairman of the Republican Party in Greenville County, a conservative stronghold that Mr. Romney first visited early last year. “It’s my impression that he’s outworking everybody else.”

You know, Mormons have been in presidential politics a lot more than just now.

Best Op-Ed Headline in a While…

…from a black man no less:

Mitt Romney is a Mormon and I am a Baptist: Get Over It!

The Largest Stretch In Journalistic History…

… courtesy of a reader. The NYTimes writes about auditions for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and works in a Romney mention. These things are starting to get extremely silly.

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