Over on our main site, Christopher Orlet
argues that "it now seems undeniable that religion played the
key role in Mitt Romney's failure to win the Republican nomination
or, for that matter, to finish a close second." Orlet reaches this
conclusion by cherry picking a few examples of low level
anti-Mormon quotes and offering little else.
Let us not forget that Romney snapped his fingers before the
election and decided to become a conservative by switching his
positions on a litany of key issues, even though his past record
was moderate. There were endless gaffes throughout the campaign in
which he reinforced the well-earned perception that he would say
anything to get elected--from describing himself as a lifelong
hunter even though he had hunted only twice, for saying he watched
his father march with MLK, for claiming an endorsement of the NRA
he never received, etc.
He also failed to emotionally connect with voters. I would go to
Romney speeches all year, and talk to audience members after who
would tell me they agreed with what he said, but he was "too slick"
and "too packaged." It never ceased to amaze me how emotionally
tone deaf he was as a candidate, most notable was when he said his
sons were serving their country by working to get him elected. I
went to a townhall meeting just days before the New Hampshire
primary in which a woman said her 26-year old cousin had been
paralyzed in a rugby accident, and she asked Romney for his
position on stem cell research. Romney responded, "Great, thank you
for the question" and he went on with a textbook answer about
pluripotent cells without offering any sympathy. Romney's checklist
conservatism appealed to desperate conservatives on a cerebral
level, but he never reached people emotionally as Huckabee and
McCain did. If you want to know why McCain beat Romney, look no
further than the final debate between them at the Reagan Library.
When they were asked why Reagan would endorse them, Romney recited
a laundry list of issues on which Reagan would have agreed with
him, while McCain spoke movingly of the importance of having
strength of conviction, and how Reagan was attacked when he
deployed missiles in Europe just as he was attacked when he was out
front defending the surge. McCain formed an emotional bond with
voters, and Romney didn't. And a lot of people want to have an
emotional relationship with who they vote for. More importantly, if
they like somebody personally, they're much more willing to
overlook their faults or petty issues like a candidate's
religion.
Orlet also writes:
What else besides Romney's faith can explain the
ex-governor's poor showing? Romney had the solid backing not only
of conservative pundits and politicians, but he had the
overwhelming endorsement of Big Talk Radio, including Glenn Beck,
Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh and Michael
Savage. These hosts were, and are, rabidly anti-McCain and
Huckabee.
I wouldn't say that Romney had the "solid backing" of conservative
pundits and politicians. A lot of conservative pundits had been
reporting on Romney's flip flops all year, and Senators such as Sam
Brownback and Tom Coburn endorsed McCain. To be sure, Romney
certainly had his boosters on the right, but he wasn't able to
consolidate conservative support soon enough. Romney may have
eventually received the backing of talk show hosts and pundits when
it became clear it would be him or McCain, but they didn't line up
behind him until the very end of the campaign, and by then it was
too late. Also, let us not forget that talk show hosts and pundits
don't speak for the entire Republican electorate.
I wouldn't deny that some people refused to vote for Romney
because he was a Mormon--just as some people didn't vote for John
McCain because they thought he was too old, and some people didn't
vote for Mike Huckabee because he's a Baptist minister. But if
Romney's record were as conservative as his rhetoric, or if he came
across as a bit more human, he would have walked away with the
nomination, regardless of his religion.
topics:
Religion, NATO, Conservatism
