Public opinion seemed to demand that a Mormon talk about being Mormon -- not just glibly, but intimately. Nowadays for an 'integral part of your self' to remain private is an outrage against confessional sharing. For that reason it has always felt gross to me to imagine Romney doing an Oprah interview from a podium and without the Oprah. But the bottom line in politics is how such a speech would work politically, and Jennifer Rubin has the dirt:
Campaign Spot both discuss the Romney Iowa polling/Huckabee success with Christian conservatives as the backdrop to The Speech. So is The Speech going to deflect from the polling or heighten attention, suggesting Romney's need to, in Campaign Spot's words, "swing for the fences" to secure Iowa? I tend to share Powerline's take on it ("I still think it's a mistake. For one thing, if it's really true that Huckabee has gained ground because of concerns over Romney's religion, stimulating more discussion of Mormonism will make that situation worse, not better.") Telling voters not to think about pink elephants usually doesn't work.
There is no Earthly way Romney can beat Huckabee on religion as such. So God help him if he tries. He can, however, beat Huckabee on using the state as a Club of Compassion, and I pray to God that he tries. In order to do this, however, universal coverage on the Mittcare model will have to be sold as simply good business: the alternatives cost too much. But 'government' is supposed to be the magical realm where the financial limitations of anxious everyday life do not apply because the Power of Caring and the Power of the Purse combine with Voltron-like glory. Nobody wants to hear that Mittcare saves money. They want to hear that Mittcare saves children. And at least a signficant number of Huckabee voters want to hear that the government saves us because Jesus saves us. Already you can see how Mitt risks delivering a speech that gets himself less coverage than it gets Huckabee. But to do nothing seems like an act of ignorance.
Romney, if he can, should deliver the following speech:
My fellow Americans, I hold fast to these venerable truths: faith cannot sanctify bad policy, good government permits people the quiet enjoyment of their religion, and neither Jerusalem nor Washington serve as cosmic Easy Buttons ordained for us to push on whenever we wish to avoid the prudence, discomfort, and wisdom of being, all, pilgrims in this world.
But I do not know if enough people want to hear this gospel anymore.
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