The Chief saw an evening replay of Gov. Mitt Romney’s statement today concerning faith and politics.
IMHO it was one of the best political addresses since the days of the Gipper himself.
Romney Vows to Serve ‘The Common Cause’
His campaign at a crossroads, Republican Mitt Romney said Thursday his Mormon faith should neither help nor hinder his quest for the White House and vowed to serve the interests of the nation, not the church, if elected president.
“When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God,” Romney said in a speech that explicitly recalled remarks John F. Kennedy made in 1960 in an effort to quell anti-Catholic bias.
There are plenty of descriptions of the Governor’s remarks, in the above noted article, as well as many others. Pat Buchanan however, goes considerably farther with his impression, which is more in keeping with the Chief’s above noted evaluation:
If Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination, it will be due in large measure to his splendid and moving defense of his faith and beliefs delivered today at the George Bush Presidential Library.
The address was courageous in a way John F. Kennedy’s speech to the Baptist ministers was not. Kennedy went to Houston to assure the ministers he agreed with them on virtually every issue where they differed with the Catholic agenda and that his faith would not affect any decision he made as president. He called himself “the Democratic Party’s candidate for president who happens also to be a Catholic.” It was like saying: “I happen to be left-handed. I can’t help it.”
Romney did not truckle. He did not suggest that his faith was irrelevant to the formation of his political philosophy. While declaring, “I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest,” he did not back away an inch from his Mormon faith.
Going on, Buchanan isn’t afraid of expressing a strongly positive response:
Romney understands that while the First Amendment proscribes the establishment of religion, it guarantees the free expression of all religions, even in the public school. Supreme Court, take note. “I will not separate us from the God who gave us liberty,” said Romney.
This was a tour de force, and it was delivered before perhaps the largest audience Romney will have for any speech before the January caucuses and primaries. It will be the subject of editorials and columns in coming weeks. And it is hard to see how Romney does not benefit hugely from what was a quintessentially “American” address.
With this speech, Romney has thrown on the defensive his main rival in Iowa, Mike Huckabee, the Christians’ candidate who, when asked if Mormonism is a cult, left the impression it might well be.
The issues of religious tolerance, what it means to be a Christian in politics and of secularism versus traditionalism are all now out on the table, and will likely be the social-moral issues on which the race turns between now and January.
To this writer, Romney is on unassailable grounds. Nor is he hurt by the fact that his wife and five children testify eloquently that he is a man of principles who lives by them.
Amen.