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Go Home The M-word

THE PLANK JANUARY 3, 2007

The M-word

BY TNR STAFF

Utah's Deseret Morning News reports that Mitt Romney is preparing a major speech explaining his Mormonism, as Damon Linker predicted in the latest TNR that he likely would. Linker's cover story on Romney and his religion, meanwhile, has been drawing some fire. Here's a discussion of it by Chris Matthews and David Gergen on last night's "Hardball":

MATTHEWS: On another front in the Republican Party, Mitt Romney is about to announce an exploratory committee tomorrow. And what happens, the New Republic runs a front page story on the cover of their magazine about the dangers of a Mormon president. That is pretty rough stuff. And I read the long piece. I don't think it does the damage they thought it would, but boy, what a long, exhaustive attack on someone's religion.
GERGEN: Can you imagine if someone who had been-when John Kennedy was running, if the National Review opened up the great big package on the cover the dangers of having a Catholic in the White House? Bill Buckley would never have done that. Of course, he is Catholic, but nonetheless, that is just so below the belt and so inappropriate.
MATTHEWS: Is this the season we

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13 comments

Is FUBAR

- bdieffen

January 3, 2007 at 3:44pm

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It's the Repubs' own conservative base, not the watchers of Hardball, who have a problem with Mormons. The press can McCain-ify Romney all they like but it won't get him past the first few Repub primaries.

- teplukhin

January 3, 2007 at 3:57pm

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What next, a President who swears allegiance to some guy who purportedly spat on dirt to cure blindness, made a bunch of fish appear out of thin air, and rose from the dead three days into forever? Um, sure, Mitt, anything you say. What's that? We already HAVE a President who professes the above? Oh. Never mind.

- williamyard

January 3, 2007 at 4:16pm

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Every problem Linker had with Mormons exist in some form another with Evangelical Christianity. If Romney is beholden to anyone it will be the corporate sponsors that fund the GOP.

- Yminale

January 3, 2007 at 4:43pm

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"And I read the long piece." Man, if he considers Damon Linker's piece long there's no hope for him. Unless the web version is severely truncated, I really don't see how anyone gets away with calling it "long" with a straight face.

- jfelliott

January 3, 2007 at 4:54pm

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Do a literature search of what was said...in, just for example, Reader's Digest and in even more respectable publications...about JFK's religion. It is almost identical to what is being said about Romney. I personally myself speaking only for me think the man is a hypocrite and liar and that his religion is unusually weird even for a religion...but that's not the point. These attacks are repulsive.

- AlanK

January 3, 2007 at 5:07pm

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Who cares what cable news talking heads think? Do those guys influence anybody? What really matters is the Talkback section on TNR. HEre we can say it: The Linker piece was not convincing. Sure, some righties distrust Mormons. So what? They're crazy anyway. I don't see any evidence that Romney's liabilities in particular can be traced to his Mormonism. Just being a Mormon isn't enough to be a problem.

- stgla

January 3, 2007 at 5:08pm

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your opinion is based on the fact that you are a rational human being. The point you overlook is that there are far too many crazy righties for Mitt to win the nomination. He is a Mormon ex-Governor from Taxachussets so off the bat he is starting out with two strikes.

- blackton

January 3, 2007 at 5:25pm

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to reach into the TV and squeeze the cable news whiteheads until they pop, like zits? I thought I had left this urge behind when I finally escaped adolescence. Back then I could stand in front of the mirror seemingly forever, on a search and destroy mission on my face. A nascent pimple was no match for the compression of two fingernails, properly placed. On a good day, I could hit the mirror a few times. Cut to the present. I watch, say, Bill O'Reilly and, man, I just wanna squeeze that noggin like I'd just had half a pizza the night before and O'Reilly's mug was staring back at me from the tip of my nose. He's so full of pus I *know* I could hit the mirror, from halfway across the room. Not just O'Reilly. All of 'em: Matthews, Hannity, Hobbs, Olbermann, Hume, Kondracke, Barnes...Pop, pop, pop...a tube of extruded pus, each and every one... This is why, when the screen says, "Fair and Balanced," I say, "Visualize Whirled Peas."

- williamyard

January 3, 2007 at 5:29pm

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Even if Mormonism is particularly worse than other religious traditions- and the linker piece was unconvincing on this point- Romney's a political opportunist, not a deeply religious man. The only people who should worry are the religious right who support him.

- Count

January 3, 2007 at 5:50pm

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1. The Linker piece wasn't all that great 2. Crowley is watching too much cable TV. I miss the days when the Plank was obsessed with TNR references on Daily Kos. The best Plank posts of late were the weird Michael Crichton thing (or was that on the front page?) and the link to the NYC subway hero.

- stgla

January 3, 2007 at 6:07pm

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Your first post "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Mormons" was right on the bull's eye. It all depends on whose holy ox is being gored. As for the pimple metaphor, right again, except that Olberman is our cute little freckle, so don't lump him in with the all the pus-heads.

- appleton

January 3, 2007 at 6:29pm

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The real Romney story is being eclipsed by the Mormon issue, which is getting the JFK Catholicism treatment by the MSM and will be handled by the candidate in a similar way. I am referring to the fact that Romney may well be an "A" campaigner, having given Teddy his only serious competition for Senator, but was at best a "C-" governor, appearing to lose interest in the job once he set his sights on the Presidency. I think it was tep who said that conservative Christians, in their hunger for victory, would overlook or forgive Giuliani his liberal positions on social issues. I predict they'll ultimately do the same for Romney on his religion and that he will emerge as the anti-McCain candidate. As a (relievedly) former constituent, I am alarmed at the prospect.

- JackR

January 3, 2007 at 6:34pm

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