Like the 800-pound gorilla in the voting booth, former Gov. Mitt Romney has danced around the issue of his Mormonism on the campaign trail. Now his people have confirmed that he’ll deliver a “much-anticipated speech on religious faith” at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum this Thursday.
There has been a determined effort to establish what campaign junkies call a narrative – that, while Romney’s religious beliefs are his important to him, they shouldn’t be important to the electorate. Unusually for a Republican candidate, he and many pundits have been trying to equate him to President Jack Kennedy, who also had to politically justify his beliefs on the campaign trail. Some have even noted that he’s even come to the same state that JFK made his speech in (Jack was at Rice University, Mitt will be at College Station, if you fancy the drive.) But if this is to alleviate the fears of the Southern evangelicals flooding to Mike Huckabee, how sensible is it for a New England Mormon to evoke the spirit of a New England Roman Catholic?
Since Huckabee has also been given the rub by former world champion pro-wrestler Ric “The Nature Boy” Flair, it will be interesting to see if Romney tries to get some in-ring support. What is The Undertaker‘s stance on supply-side economics?
This article appears in November 30 • 2007.
