I remember meeting a woman who was a political appointee, a former congressional staffer, who had been placed in the position of General Counsel of a major government agency, despite her lack of knowledge of the work of the agency and her general lack of experience. She visited our office, and was made welcome, but I think it was obvious that she had no special merit for her post other than political connections.

I’ve been posting on TH; there were a lot of virulent anti-Mormons out and about any time Mitt’s name was mentioned. One guy, not a Mormon but a Mitt supporter, got caught up in the religious furor and starting defending the Mormons.

He invited the missionaries and last I heard was getting baptized.

I would like to believe that the net effect of Mitt’s candidacy is increased awareness of the role that religion should legitimately play in selecting a candidate.

You guys did a great job. Like the Mitt campaign, you are a class act. Thanks again!

But Romeny has a great future in the Republican Party. His conservative credentials can only get better and I can see him running in 4 or 8 years. With a different outcome.

Your good work was needed and helped a nation understand what our precious religious freedom is all about.

Hope to see you both again soon.

Palin is a good pick on several fronts. She has pluses and minuses – the big pluses being her ability to reel in disaffected Hillary voters, the ability to lay out the rationale for domestic energy production, and she’s walked the walk on the pro-life issue very recently.

That said, her resume is still a little thin. Her experience with the economy is limited compared to Romney. Romney also could have threatened to flip Michigan, which would have been a killer for Obama’s chances.

Also, I am wondering, and probably will always wonder, whether she got the slot entirely on the merits, or because McCain blinked vis-a-vis Huckabee and other anti-Mormon bigots. I’m probably being very unfair to Governor Palin, but that question just is not going away any time soon.

Thank you both for the countless hours you have devoted to this blog. Your diligence and great comments have been exceeded only by the gentlemanly way in which you’ve always probed this contentious issue. While the focus on “The Question” itself is pretty well done (finally!) for this election cycle–I’m sure there will again be many post-mortems, however, the broader questions of both the role of religion in political life and the appropriate limits on questioning the personal religious views and observances of candidates for public office will certainly continue. The media just can’t seem to get enough “religion”, even as little as they truly “get it”.

I too will vote enthusiastically for the McCain/Palin ticket–and would have voted, but less enthusiastically, for a McCain/Huckabee ticket. I have actually heard very little “Romney or I won’t vote for McCain” talk among my fellow Mormons. The bigger issues that delineate the gulf between the parties are just too important to the nation not to be engaged.

Thank you, again, gentlemen!