Well crafted speech, well delivered. Romney was right not to go into the details of Mormonism, because that would veer into the undignified — it would have been a concession that the details matter. And, yes, nice job capturing the headlines as he tanks in Iowa — a state he needs to win.
The joke about all of this is that, should he make it out of the primaries, Romney’s real religious problem is that he will be perceived as just another patrician, white, anglo-saxon, Protestant. In fact, absent the quirk of Mormonism, a very mild version of which he seems to have lived by until he needed religious cred, he comes off not so different than a Bush brother. He could easily pass pass as one, even though he is taller, leaner, has better hair and a way bigger vocabulary — but is more of a stiff. Still, he is a white boy who inherited plenty of money and political connections. Indeed, Bush 41, he of today’s lent library, was pretty close to former Governor George and Lenore Romney back in the day. Lenore – Mitt’s mom who was pro-abortion before Roe v. Wade, was a strong supporter of Bush 41 in 1988, when Michigan was an important state, and various of her offspring and their spouses still had power there.
I think America may want something newer than plain vanilla this time around. The sex/race/ethnicity thing looks new, regardless of what’s inside the package. (I’m betting against John Edwards for the same reason.) Even if he deflates the fear of Mormonism, he becomes just another privileged white male (in the view of voters beyond the GOP base). So, good speech, but now what are you going to do for us, Mitt?