Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

The Hartford Courant explores the political impact of Mitt Romney's membership in the Mormon religion and explains why it is crucual that Romney "to deflect and at some point end any controversy over his religion."

The religious issue has special significance in a Romney campaign because he's working hard to position himself as the choice of social conservatives. His top rivals, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, are regarded warily by many religious conservatives, leaving a big opening in Republican caucuses and primaries. The more conservative hopefuls, such as Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, either lack Romney's fundraising ability or are not as well known.

To become the conservative darling, Romney has to overcome controversies other than his religion, because his views on key social issues such as abortion and gay rights appear to have shifted in recent years. And he is viewed warily in some quarters because he was governor of what many people around the nation regard as one of the country's most liberal states.

But political experts see religion as the boulder Romney must move first in order to become established as the right's front-runner. If he can convince voters that he's a devout, practicing Christian, the analysts' theory goes, people will trust him when he insists he's strongly anti-abortion and favors some curbs on gay rights.

Supporters are convinced that the religious discussion will fade once voters listen carefully to Romney. But even his most avid backers concede that his religion is "an obstacle," as Nathan Burd, founder of Americans for Mitt, put it.

It is, but given that the major competition - McCain and Giuliani - don't have a lock on social conservatives, it's an obstacle I belive Romney will overcome fairly easily.

Romney's real problem isn't his religion, but his record on key social issues, where his positions have evolved in a more conservative direction over the years. But it looks to me like Romney has figured out how to answer that question - and it isn't by denying he's changed his views.

Rather, he's doing something very Reaganesque: he's admitting he's changed his views, and portraying that as a strength, as the wisdom that comes with life experience.

A single quote from Romney's speech to a gathering of social conservatives at the Awakening conference in Sea Island, Ga., last week, encapsulates what I'm talking about. It is a brilliant quote, one that evokes President Ronald Reagan's own descriptions of how his life experiences transformed him from a Democrat who supported Franklin D. Roosevelt in his earlier years into a staunch proponent of conservatism and leader of the conservative movement.

Said Romney: "Now, I wasn’t always a Ronald Reagan conservative. Neither was Ronald Reagan, by the way. And perhaps some in this room have had the opportunity to listen, learn, and benefit from life’s experience - and to grow in wisdom, as I have. My life experience convinced me that Ronald Reagan was right."