A Mormon in the White House?

I plunked down $25 for an opening-day copy of Hugh Hewitt's A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know About Mitt Romney. You can get it at Amazon for $18. I have no doubt it will be about ten times as insightful and relevant as the usual vapid campaign-year political biography. In the Introduction, Hewitt expresses his hope that, if Romney doesn't manage to get the nomination or the office, it's for policy stands or candidate gaffes but NOT because of his religion. At the same time, it's clear Hewitt, a 99.44% pure conservative, thinks Romney is a true conservative and has what it takes to sit in the big chair.

I'll put up a couple of posts on the book in coming weeks. Here are a few quotes from the Introduction to get you started. On Romney personally:

Mitt Romney is unique. He has a talent for politics and leadership that is extraordinary amongst the ranks of professional politicians. What's more, his record of accomplishment in both public and private spheres is remarkable. If Mitt Romney's personal characteristics and record of achievement didn't clearly qualify him for the presidency, there would be no discussion about his faith. (p. 4)

Quoting Dean Barnett (a co-blogger at Hewitt's website) on how Christians playing the religion card against Romney are using a double-edged sword:

"If it becomes permissible to question the tenets of Romney's faith, all religious people will be vulnerable," Dean argued. "All religions require a faith in the fantastic and a belief in the unbelievable. If Romney's faith in the Book of Mormon is used as evidence that he is a fool, a new kind of political attack will be legitimized. Christians who believe in the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the literal truths of Communion will be dismissed out of hand."

"It almost goes without saying that certain secularists already hold such views. But if members of other religious communities support the attacks on Romney's faith because of some animus towards Mormonism, the weapon they legitimize will in short order be turned against them." (p. 10)

And that is perhaps the central point of the book. Quoting Hewitt: "If much of the campaign of 2007 and 2008 is spent exploring, evaluating, debating, and mocking the Mormon faith, expect the very arguments used to diminish Romney's qualifications in this regard to return in the future against devout evangelicals or orthodox Catholics. Once a long-closed door to a religion test is opened, it will not be easily closed again" (p. 11).

Finally, Hewitt notes in the Introduction that he is not Mormon nor is any member of his immediate family. He did, however, form a friendship with Elder Neal A. Maxwell after interviewing him on several occasions as part of the PBS series Searching for God in America (your local library probably has a copy of the video and of the companion book). So Hewitt is no stranger to Mormonism. That, plus his prior experience working inside the White House and his tenure as a talented political commentator, makes Hewitt ideally suited to evaluate Romney's bid for the White House and America's reaction to it. Here's his final word from the Introduction:

I have never met a more intellectually gifted, curious, good humored, broadly read, and energetic official than Mitt Romney. Whether he can convey these gifts to the electorate and thereby earn their support is another question entirely. Like every other reporter and most other voters, I'll be watching to see if that is the case. (p. 17)

Yes — we're all watching.

Comments

[RoastedTomatoes]

So far, not so good. The poll of Republicans published today in the New York Times shows that about 3/4 of Republicans don't have an opinion about Romney yet. Not a good starting point on visibility. But the worse news is that -- among the 1/4 of Republicans who are political junkies enough to have an opinion on Romney, the negatives are almost as high as the positives. Nobody knows who he is, and the few Republicans who do know about him don't like him very much.

[Seth R.]

"All religions require a faith in the fantastic and a belief in the unbelievable. If Romney's faith in the Book of Mormon is used as evidence that he is a fool, a new kind of political attack will be legitimized. Christians who believe in the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the literal truths of Communion will be dismissed out of hand."

Yes exactly. Which is why anti-religious liberals, and perhaps liberal-leaning news outlets, are SIMPLY DYING to see the "Christian Right" mount an attack on Romney.

They're so anxious for the impending religious spat, that they occasionally seem to be egging the participants on. So far, I haven't really seen any notable attacks on Romney's faith from Evangelicals. But that doesn't seem to stop the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and every other reporter from prophesying darkly about the impending rift that is sure to come.

The left is so desperate to see conservative Christians hoisted on their own petard, that they'll probably invent a theological fight if one fails to materialize.

[Duff]

I think Mr. Sampson in the Justice Dept. has just given everyone a nice lesson on how Mormons can NOT be of help in government. He didn't do Romney any favors in the non-Mormon crowd. With the help of conservatives like him, it won't be liberals who are "hoist on their own petard" but vice versa.

[Adam Greenwood]

Was Mr. Sampson acting at the behest of the First Presidency or something?

[Adam Greenwood]

I ordered a copy. Hewitt is that rare thing, a party man with wit and intelligence, so I look forward to the book.

[Clark Goble]

The question is whether Hewitt's support of Romney will dry up if Thompson enters the race. (As I think most think at this point he will given dissatisfaction with the candidates)

[Dave]

Clark, I think now that he has written the book, he's more or less committed to Romney. Not that he won't have nice things to say about other Republican candidates, but he can't just do a 180 on Romney and retain his credibility.

[Duff]

So now, Romney has the Swiftboat boys aboard. Everyone assumes that means he is going to go dirty.
How is that going to go down with you Mormon Intellectuals? I shouldn't think it should make you particularly happy.

[Seth R.]

If it ends up dirty, I don't imagine I will like it much.

We'll see.