Contrary to advice from David Brody, Romney seems not keen at all
about describing with any specificity -even any generality- his
faith. This I think is perfectly
appropriate under most circumstances but neatly highlights the
dilemma he faces. If : 1)he says his faith informs who he is and
all he does and 2) his faith is not one most are familiar with (and
some are downright uncomfortable with) can he simultaneously say ”
but I’m not going to tell you anything about my faith”? Well sure
he can say it, but with such an approach whose minds will he put at
ease? Likely, people who already think religion shouldn’t be a
factor or people who have satisfied themselves that Mormonism is
not a “cult” were fine with him before and will be fine afterwards.
I share James’ head scratching about what Romney can/should say
that will not be off putting or pablum. UPDATE: Given four days to
mull this over the press has begun to discuss, even if Romney won’t, the
ways in which Mormonism “diverges from conventional Christianity”
and the differences between Romney’s and JFK’s situation ( “Kennedy
could take for granted that Americans understood Catholicism,
whereas few understand Mormonism. And Roman Catholics make up a
large portion of the population.”) Perhaps a Sunday announcement
for a Tuesday speech would have cut short some of this.
