Betting On Weird
Obama said a long time ago that he was going to use “weird” as a meme in a general election run against Mitt Romney. At the time everyone knew he meant “Mormon.” But there have a been some interesting developments in the primary race that could change his mind.
Essentially, the Mormon issue has shown local appeal, but is not playing generally – and might even be backfiring with moderates and independents. Gingrich misplayed it in Florida and got trounced. Santorum’s surrogates played it and he had no traction at all. (Note to Santorum – lose this guy and lose him publicly. The plausible deniability is spent.) Iowa was a virtual tie and the Evangelical vote split in Florida. You can bet your bottom dollar the “not Romney” votes from there will either go Romney or stay home in the general – they will not go Obama.
People may indeed think Mormonism “weird,” but in a world where we are all a little weird, we don’t like being attacked for it. Tone matters too. Romney payed hardball in Florida but Gingrich was just flat out nasty. A “vitriolic” and “spiteful” Obama might not be a good idea.
Which brings me to the Obama administration’s latest swipe at folks of faith:
The Obama Administration is standing by a decision to require all insurance plans to cover the use of contraceptives, but said Friday it would give some employers an additional year to comply.
The rule, which goes into effect August 1, 2012, requires all insurance plans to cover the cost of birth control. Many non-profits with religious affiliations, such as Catholic universities and hospitals, say that will force them to violate their basic tenets.
The Department of Health and Services announced Friday those employers would have until August 1, 2013, to meet the new requirement.
The push back from the Catholic church has been enormous – you can read about here, here and here. Politically, this is a very shrewd move on Obama’s part, even if it is onerous. The policy is based on his conviction that “most Americans” think the religious prohibitions against contraception and abortion are “weird.” But as things are shaping up, that conclusion has to be called into question. By making an announcement, any announcement, he has pushed the issue to the fore so he can test the waters before the general. By making THIS announcement he has 1) appealed to his base by keeping the policy in place, 2) appealed to moderates with the “reasonable” delay, and 3) really punted the issue into the next administration – hoping inertia, or his victory in November, will prevent it from being changed.
Unfortunately, this is policy, not simply an effort to shape public perception of someone in an election cycle. This matters.
And It Provides Mitt Romney With An Opportunity
Tuesday our friend Timothy Dalrymple suggested some “course corrections” to Governor Romney. Given what an effective spokesperson against a religion test Dalrymple has been this cycle, Team Romney would do well to listen.
Point #1: It’s never, never “all about the economy.”
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Point #2: Don’t give up on evangelicals. Some very public evangelicals have very publicly denounced you and your faith. Your cherished religious community, the community in which you were raised by loving parents, in which you’ve raised your own children, the same community that you have served so tirelessly over decades, was slandered as a “cult” by an influential pastor. You, ergo, were portrayed as a cult member. Many evangelical leaders defended this choice of wording, and few have spoken out even against the more obvious efflorescences of anti-Mormon bigotry. To make matters worse, an entire generation of conservative evangelical activists/leaders gathered in Texas to rally around some candidate other than you. So it would be perfectly understandable if you felt that you had little incentive — or no stomach — for further engagement with evangelicals.
[...]
Of those evangelicals who oppose you, few do so passionately, and most are compelled not by prejudice but by misinformation about your record and your positions. In other words, many evangelicals support you now, and many more are willing to support you if they can be convinced that your stances on abortion, the family and religious liberties are sincere and impassioned, and not simply assumed for political convenience.
[...]
Point #3: Own your faith.
This may be the most important point of all. Your discipline is the stuff of legend. And after your father’s campaign for the presidency ran off the rails when he referred to a “brainwashing” on the Vietnam issue, the exercise of an extraordinarily meticulous self-control has become a pervasive theme in your family. But these things are largely responsible for the “Romneybot” moniker. Your behavior seems a little too programmed, too scripted, and therefore artificial. It makes it hard for many people to connect with you. And although Richard Land meant it in a different (and incorrect) sense, I believe he was inadvertently onto something when he said you’re “not Mormon enough” for many evangelicals.
You love God. You strive to follow God’s leading in your life. Although we would differ on the metaphysics of Christ’s nature, in practice your personal relationship with Jesus Christ looks an awful lot like the one that evangelicals enjoy. These are not things that northeasterners typically wear on their sleeves, and your campaign is understandably reluctant to shine a spotlight on your Mormonism. Evangelicals would grow more uncomfortable with you if they thought you were going to be making an argument on behalf of Mormonism throughout your presidency. So you should not engage in apologetics. But they will grow more comfortable with you if they see the depth, the vitality, and the heartfelt authenticity of your relationship with God. They will grow more comfortable if they better understand your pastoral experience (let’s call it what it is) as ward bishop and stake president. You have rich experiences in missions and preaching and pastoral counseling, and in all these ways you connected with ordinary people, ordinary workers, in the struggles of everyday life.
This ruling by the Obama administration gives Romney the perfect opportunity to follow this advise – simply by getting in front of the issue. This ruling by the Obama administration could be the force that heals the rift inside the Republican coalition. Mitt Romney in front of this issue accomplishes two very important things – it pulls social conservatives into camp Romney and in so doing it neutralizes “weird.” If that happens, Obama will have no choice but to get shrill and Gingrich just showed us how that will go.
Posted in Candidate Qualifications, Doctrinal Obedience, Political Strategy, Religious Bigotry, Religious Freedom, Understanding Religion | 7 Comments » | 
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kurofune on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:16 am #
And maybe Obama’s new tactic is to try to be a more identifiable Christian rather than use the ‘weird’ meme. Attaching this to the gaffe from Romney about focusing on the middle class and he might make a push for “Christian charity” that could capitalize on the class warfare culture with which he’s kept cozy.
Just another possibility.
JLF9999 on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:28 am #
I want to go a bit off point. I have been thinking about how to address something that has been bothering me for sometime about Mitt, his wealth and his inability to relate to people through TV and print. It is not my business but because I feel so attached to Mitt, I want to say something that really isn’t within my purview to say. Call it a character flaw on my part.
Yesterday when I watched Mitt say what he did about the very poor I cringed. More than that, I was angry. I was angry because the man has not the faintest idea In the world what it is like to be poor, to be fired or ore live a in poverty and yet here he is, a very wealthy man, trying to make noises like he does. He does not. It is clear by his choice of words.
Anyone who had the slightest idea of what poverty was like and was concerned about it could not formulate those thoughts in his head much less utter them. It seems to me that Mitt is thinking about poverty like he was mowing the lawn or balancing his checkbook or performing any other mundane routine task. He does it because he must, without emotional involvement and with only a passing interest because he has to be interested in it. It is part of the job.
That kind of detachment carries with it a certain mind set and that mind set has certain calculation and it was that calculation I heard coming form Mitt’s mouth yesterday and at other times. I feel insulted because I have lived in poverty as my parents did early on and my grandparents did all their lives. You cannot know what it is like to worry about where you will find the money to pay the bills next month, or whether you will be able to keep a roof over your head or buy school clothes for your children or put gas in the car so you can go to work unless you have lived it.
For a very wealthy man to make some lame comment about the very poor is inexcusable. So, Mitt, keep your comments about the poor to yourself because you sound like an idiot.
Ok, now that I have vented my spleen, let me suggest a way to redeem your self. One that would make sense to me and I think most people who know first hand what poverty is like. You cannot know what poverty is like because you have only seen it as an outsider. Say that. If you genuinely believe what poverty you have seen is gut wrenching say it. If it didn’t tear you up don’t say it did. Say what you really believe not some calculation that makes it appear that you believe it.
Tell us in your words what you have seen in real terms up close and personally and what it made you feel like. We do not care what you did about it, so stop with the political shop talk. If you want people to listen you have to say, say what you saw from the outside as an outsider. Your missionary experiences are meaningless. Most people can’t relate to that.
JLF9999 on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:36 am #
Pardon me for not editing my comments a bit better. Emotional writing is all about emotion not communicating an idea. So, my other post here lacks some cohesion such as telling Mitt to not comment about poverty and then telling him what would makes sense if he did want to say something. Again, call it a character flaw on my part.
John Schroeder on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:03 pm #
kurofune – Obama’s speech at the prayer breakfast this AM would lend credence to your point – more on that to come – stay tuned to this blog
JLF – for one, we are not Mitt Romney. He does read this blog sometimes, mostly when someone around him tells him he should, but writing to us does not mean you are addressing him. You might want to adjust your pronouns accordingly.
Now, as to the substance of your comment – my understanding of the conditions he experienced on his mission is that they are pretty spartan. He has a taste of living on a shoestring if not poverty.
But more importantly, it is usually dispassion that with a slightly detached view that can best solve a problem. Those with emotional stake that cannot set that stake aside cannot obtain the necessary objectivity to solve the problem well. That is why Mitt is such a turnaround artist – he can approach a problem dispassionately and objectively. That is precisely what the nation needs right now.
Now, I will say this finally, poverty is a relative, and generally temporary thing. I have been pretty close, if not there in my life. It was bad enough that I walked into a welfare office. After an hour of standing in line filling out forms and being asked some of the most humiliating questions of my life – I walked out. I wanted none of it. I was going to find a way to end my streak of bad luck, or die trying, but I was NOT going to take money from the government.
That was a lot of years ago and God has chosen to bless me beyond my wildest dreams. I know I am much happier being beholden to God than I would be had I taken money from the government. I did not want a president that understood my problems then nor do I really want one now.
I have God and my Christian brethren for that – I want a president that can do the job well. Mitt Romney is that in spades.
JLF9999 on 02 Feb 2012 at 3:29 pm #
John – mea culpa. Sorry I mixed the voice, tense and person and all that stuff I learned in 8th grade. also, I was given to understand just what you said, that he or his people do read this blog. You are more influential than you give yourself credit for.
Gloria on 02 Feb 2012 at 11:23 pm #
To JLF9999
I got upset when you said that Romney didn’t care about the poor and couldn’t possibly care about the poor because of his wealth. Gov. Romney was a Mormon Bishop for several years. Since there is no paid ministry in the Mormon church, that means he worked all day long, then went home at night and on weekends and took care of the poor along with all his other ministerial duties. I know this because my husband, who has owned an electronic manufacturing business for 30 years, was Bishop of our ward for 5 years. Next time you are in Utah, you might take a tour of Welfare Square. We have farms and canneries all over this country where we grow and can food (also using volunteers) to feed our poor and then donate a significant portion to city food banks to feed the evangelical poor. Gov. Romney took his boys and worked on those farms. Gov. Romney was also a Stake President, which means he took care of 10 congregations when he “served” in that calling. And what about the 20% he gave to charity. The 10% that went to church mostly went to care for the poor all over the world because their aren’t even very many paid positions in the church even in Salt Lake. And voluteers who pay their own way, even to foreign countries, dissiminate that charity! I was raised in the Methodist church and had many family members who were Baptist. I never saw a level of giving of either money or time when I was growing up that matches what I have learned to do as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Matters of Taste And Thought | Article VI Blog | John Schroeder on 03 Feb 2012 at 4:01 am #
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