Romney's JFK Speech Coming Thursday
December 3, 2007
You knew it was going to happen. C'mon. Ok, maybe some Romney supporters didn't want it to happen but it's going to nonetheless. Mitt Romney's speech on "Faith in America" happens this Thursday. Details below from Kevin Madden, Romney's National Spokesman. Take a look and then let's discuss.
"Governor Romney has made a decision to deliver a speech titled "Faith in America. The governor has been invited to The George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas to deliver this address on Thursday, December 6.This speech is an opportunity for Governor Romney to share his views on religious liberty, the grand tradition religious tolerance has played in the progress of our nation and how the governor's own faith would inform his Presidency if he were elected. Governor Romney understands that faith is an important issue to many Americans, and he personally feels this moment is the right moment for him to share his views with the nation. Governor Romney personally made the decision to deliver this speech sometime last week. While identifying a venue for this address, the campaign consulted with President George H.W. Bush's office last week about Governor Romney's decision. President Bush was gracious enough to extend an invitation to deliver the speech at the presidential library. The invitation to speak at the presidential library is not an endorsement of Governor Romney's campaign."
We'll be collecting more information about it as the week progresses but let me offer a few thoughts.
Why now? Umm, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that with Huckabee number one now in Iowa, especially with Evangelicals, Romney needs to stop the bleeding there. But the whole issue is much bigger than that. No matter when Romney gave this speech, the timing was going to be dissected.
Politically this could be a very tough speech to write but if you take politics out of it, (yeah, right) it actually is a very easy speech to write. Let me explain. There are two factors at play here. Some people may not vote for Romney because he's a Mormon. Whatever. There's nothing the campaign can do about that. But the danger here is to get stuck too much on the Mormonism theme. While that will be the subject, the underlying subtext will be key. You see, the huge pothole in the road for Romney isn't necessarily the Mormonism issue as much as it is the authenticity issue. He's been labeled a flip flopper and someone who has re-invented himself on a number of issues. So when he delivers the speech on Thursday, what needs to come through is that he's shooting straight with the American people about this topic. It's all nice and dandy to say there shouldn't be a religious test for office, and all faiths have shared values, etc. Wonderful. But the real mileage he'll get out of the speech will be if he really lays it out there. What I'm saying is this: will Metric Mitt let his hair down? I've seen Romney on the campaign trail and you always get the sense that he is guarded and doesn't do the "I feel your pain" thing all that well. Well, if Romney wants to grab those crucial Evangelical votes in Iowa and elsewhere, he will earn their respect and come across as honest and authentic if he acknowledges the differences between the two religions. Evangelicals, for the most part, don't want him to lump Mormonism and Christianity into the "we're all the same" category. I know Mormons feel differently about this but I'm just giving it to you straight. Values wise the two religions have a lot in common and I'm sure that will be a big part of his speech. But Evangelicals would trust him more, appreciate him more and respect him more if he came clean about the differences. I'm not saying he needs to do theological bullet points here. Of course not. But a little more would go a long way.
More on this throughout the week.
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