Romney's religious speech at Bush Library

Jonah Goldberg:

Washington is atwitter. Mitt Romney will give a "JFK speech" accounting for his Mormonism the way then-Sen. John F. Kennedy dealt with his Catholicism. Political junkies just love Kennedy nostalgia. So profound is the Kennedy cargo cult that Michael Dukakis -- who was as much a reincarnation of JFK as Weird Al Yankovich is of Frank Sinatra -- tapped Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen as his 1988 running mate because he believed it would revive the "Boston-Austin" axis of the JFK-LBJ ticket. Recalling the electricity and verve of that Democratic ticket, who among us can deny Dukakis' wisdom?

Such are the dangers of political nostalgia, which often drives candidates to repeat history as farce.

Until fairly recently, Romney was rightly reluctant to give a "JFK speech." "What would I say?" he asked. He seemed to understand that JFK's 1960 address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Assn. has become the stuff of legend and any effort to match it would come up short. "I probably could never do something that would compare to what John F. Kennedy did," Romney said in October. "His was a masterpiece in American political history."

Well, now the former Massachusetts governor is going to talk about "faith in America," and in Houston no less. We don't know what he'll say, but it's easy to guess why he's saying it: Mike Huckabee. The Southern Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor is leading in Iowa polls, scuttling Romney's plan to use a victory there as a springboard to the Republican nomination. Huckabee's charm, skill and socially conservative record help explain much of his success. And Romney's Olympian hair, hypnotic teeth, squishy record and yacht-salesman demeanor are all important factors in why he can't seal the deal with some Iowa voters.

But there's another factor: Romney's heresy. I don't mean this in a pejorative sense, though others do. Mormonism is seen as a non-Christian cult by many conservative Christians, and a Romney nomination or presidency, they fear (I don't), would serve to advance the mainstreaming of Mormonism. In fairness, the Christian right is no monolith, and Romney has many religious conservatives in his corner. And if Huckabee weren't in the race, he'd have more.

Still, Romney is marching into a theological head wind the other candidates aren't. It's not his or any other Mormon's policy positions that are at stake. Some of the most effective conservatives in Washington are Mormons. What rankles is the widespread characterization -- mis-characterization in their eyes -- of Mormonism as merely another "denomination" of Christianity. Phrases like "a stronghold of Satan's" (applied to Utah) and "false prophecy" (applied to the "cult" ) get bandied about in some circles. Others are coldly analytical; a Mormon president, they correctly adduce, would only aid the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' remarkable success at proselytizing in the U.S. and around the world.

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First lets clear up the factual error. The Bush Library is in College Station, Texas about 100 miles north of Houston. It is on the campus of Texas A&M. Even by Texas standards that is not in the suburbs of Houston. It is about the same distance as between New York City and Philadelphia.

I don't think the speech will make that much difference in the race. Iowa is unique in its ability to make a small group of Christian conservatives power brokers who may be rejecting Mitt because of his faith. Mormons have some weird beliefs, such as the American Indians being a lost tribe of Israel. This belief has been demonstrated by DNA evidence to have no basis in fact. Still, as kooky as that belief may be it is not particularly dangerous to the country. There are other aspects of Mormon belief that deviate from orthodox Christianity, but that does not mean that Mormons are not patriotic Americans who love their country and want what is best for it. The latter is about all Mitt can say on the point.

Faith can be a strange thing sometimes. Scientific DNA can also prove that the Jews are not the descendants of pigs and apes yet many Muslims believe that because it is in the Koran. It is unlikely than any speech could dissuade them on the point either. Judging by recent conduct in Sudan over a Teddy Bear name there might be an attempt to lynch the scientist. Fortunately in this country religious tnatrums like that are rare.

John Dickerson explains some of the pitfalls that the speech may produce. Ryan Sager says that Mitt has not loss support from religious conservatives so much as Brownback and Thompson support has migrated to Huckabee. Sager believes the support went to Huckabee because of a question about the ambiguity of Romney's passions on the issues and not his religion.

David Limbaugh sees the real danger in the Romney speech.

Quoted material removed. You may read the original at the link above.

Yes, the less he says about the less likely he will be asked to defend things like the "lost tribe" belief.