The big news of the weekend is that Mitt Romney has decided to give The Speech on Thursday addressing his Mormonism in the mold of another Bay Stater who once ran for President. Per Jonathan Martin, it will be at the Bush Presidential Library in College Station, TX and Romney will be introduced (not endorsed) by George H.W. Bush and will be joined by his wife and five sons.
Whether or not Romney should give the speech at all has been debated by Romney and his staff since February. Romney even debated it with a radio host in Iowa:
Giving such a speech, however, is not without its downsides. It first and foremost draws attention to his Mormonism. Not that it's a secret that Romney is a Mormon, but that specifically addressing it just reminds people of something they don't like. The words "Mitt Romney" and "Mormon" will probably appear together more times in the news media and among pundits this week than in the previous year combined. This kind of coverage could be potentially harmful to Romney as the country hasn't quite accepted the Church of Latter Day Saints.
One of the driving reasons behind the decision to give the speech is that Romney is losing ground in the Triumvirate states. Although he is a religious man, he has failed to gain support among Christian voters who don't consider Mormonism a Christian religion.
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» UPDATE: The Mormon Speech from ElephantBiz
Per Jonathan Martin, Mitt Romney talked about his giving The Speech this morning on a radio interview in Iowa:"But, you know, times have changed and particularly in a state like Iowa, there's been interest in religion generally and I think... [Read More]
Tracked on: December 3, 2007 10:28 AM | Permalink to Trackback