CBS News is reporting that Mitt Romney will, like JFK before him, give a speech this Thursday on his personal faith and how that might or might not affect his presidency should he be elected. This seemed in keeping with a major theme of the class.
Any thoughts? What should he say? What should he avoid saying?
5 comments:
I'm not sure if it's a good idea to draw attention to the fact that he's a Mormon. Polls show that many voters are opposed to a Mormon president, yet Romney is doing well in some primaries polls (maybe people don't know he's a Mormon? Should he keep it that way?).
Even putting stereotypes and myths aside, Mormonism has a recent history that does not play well with most Americans.
Here is JFK's speech.
To appease those voters wary of his Mormon faith, Romney should emphasize the importance of separation of church and state in his own career--keeping his religious beliefs out of his public decisions.
Here's an article that analyzes this situation and talks about how JFK dealt with addressing his religion in public: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3944320&page=1
He should say nothing about Mormonism. Just like Bobby Jindal did not mention his race and so was elected governor of the Bayou, so too should Mitt not mention Mormonism.
Instead, he should stress his faith, his love of family, and how he plans to revamp the tax code, cut spending, and kick butt in Iraq.
I think that he is going to have to discuss his faith; religion is too big an issue in the country for him not too. He should try to refute some myths about current Mormonism, such as polygamy, and ensure voters that he does in no way support it or other more extreme Mormon views. But I think that if he emphasizes his devoutness and faith, the importance of the family (including that he has only been married once...), and his socially conservative views on abortion and gay marriage, he might be able to overcome some of the opposition to him based on his faith. If he is going to differentiate himself from Giuliani and make some headway, he has to put emphasis on traditionally faith-based issues and try to win over some social conservatives.
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