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Craig L. Foster

A Different God?: Mitt Romney, the Religious Right, and the Mormon Question Paperback – July 31, 2008

by Craig L. Foster (Author)

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Print length

244 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Greg Kofford Books Inc
Publication date

July 31, 2008
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5.5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1589581172
ISBN-13

978-1589581173
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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Greg Kofford Books Inc (July 31, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1589581172
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1589581173
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,487,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,900 in Political Parties (Books)
- #5,389 in Mormonism

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John Elsegood

Mormonism -the final hurdle?

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2008

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Perhaps it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a Mormon to enter the Oval Office.
At least that is the contention of author Craig L. Foster in assessing Mitt Romney's bid for the presidency.
In the seven chapters of the book Foster traces the rise and power of the Religious Right, a political history of the Latter-day Saints, Romney's background from Mormon missionary to man with a mission and finishes with three chapters on the Mormon question.
There is not much doubt that Huckabee played the 'Mormon card' to Romney's detriment in Iowa, and other evangelical strongholds, and his disingenuous style is revealed by the author. When asked whether he considered Mormonism a cult or religion the former Arkansas governor replied, "I think it's a religion. I really don't know much about it." But he knew enough apparently to comment "don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"
As Foster notes, Huckabee 'keynoted the 1998 Southern Baptist Convention in Salt Lake City' and since the convention's theme was to fight against Mormonism he would have been perfectly aware of anti-Mormon tracts that circulated there, including those that 'explained' the question Huckabee not-so-innocently asked on the presidential trail. It was low politics but it helped Huckabee win in Iowa... a case, perhaps, of mission accomplished but definitely not of someone attempting to 'do the right thing,' to coin a phrase and a book title!
Foster gives other examples of the 'well being poisoned' and it is not a pretty picture.When one Christian group, or candidate, attempts to denigrate another person or group of faith,albeit of an unorthodox kind, it sends a very potent message of encouragement to those who hate all religions. It can also have a corrosive effect within the GOP and more than a few Republicans believe that if Huckabee had won the nomination his tactics could have led to large numbers of mountain west Republicans voting for the Democratic ticket. Perhaps Huckabee might find Mark 8:36 instructive and to paraphrase that Biblical passage, what should it profit a man if he should gain party nomination and lose his own integrity-and the election! (It is a message that I hope my fellow evangelical learns well because he does have plenty to offer).
The author has written an interesting book about the 2008 election and finishes with a section listing 10 Mormons who have run for the presidency, including the founding LDS prophet, Joseph Smith, the first man assassinated during a presidential campaign.
Romney's performance has been better than any other LDS candidate (at the time of his departure from the race he was clearly in second position amongst GOP candidates) but it remains to be seen whether any Mormon can go further given the evangelical base of the GOP and those who are prepared to promote fear and prejudice over reason.
One can only hope that if Huckabee and Romney do clash again in 2012 it will not be played out against a backdrop of the latter's religion.

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BHodges

"The last election certainly did not answer the Mormon questions..."

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2011

The old story about America's pilgrim forefathers setting sail to find religious freedom in a new world simply doesn't bear the weight of historical scrutiny. Freedom they sought, but not necessarily for all, and "they" weren't the only ones around, of course. Things are seldom so simple. Of course, religion has often played a leading role in shaping the political and social values of Americans, but the relationship between faith and politics has been rocky overall. Throughout 2007 as Mitt Romney campaigned to become president of the United States, various polls showed that anywhere between 30 and 43 percent of Americans "would not vote for a Mormon" (121).

What was it about his Mormon religion that made Americans wary of Romney? Or did wariness of Romney contribute to their reluctance to vote for a Mormon? These questions are likely to resurface when Romney announces his next run for office. Craig L. Foster's book "A Different God? Mitt Romney, the Religious Right, and the Mormon Question" explores the interplay of faith and politics in the United States through Romney's failed 2008 presidential run. A second edition would give Foster the chance to jettison a few now-irrelevant points about the last election, though it doesn't seem one is in the works.

Before analyzing Romney's campaign, Foster spends the first three chapters providing a little historical context. Chapter one briefly explores the "rise of the religious right," an "awkward coalition of different groups" of Christians rather than "a unified monolith" (1). Since Romney isn't the first Mormon to run for the nation's highest office Foster also gives a history of the other attempts. Unlike his predecessors, Romney was running for the Republican nomination rather than as a third party candidate. He began campaigning earlier, ran longer, and spent more money than any previous Mormon. He also won several state primaries. Finally, the "increasing public presence, power, and influence of the Latter-day Saints" was crucial to his campaign (xi-xii). Foster argues this final strength--the Mormonism which inspired Romney's patriotism and strong work ethic--ultimately became a crucial weakness for his campaign, it became "the Mormon question."

The "Mormon Question," Foster writes, was one of the "major reasons" Romney's first quest for the presidency failed (xiii). Foster states the question as follows: "Because Mormons believe in what most Americans see as alien, even non-Christian, doctrines and strange practices, can a Mormon be trusted to preserve, protect, and promote the common good of the United States as president?" (xiii).

Foster describes Romney's strategy of discussing his religion as shifting over time. Romney initially said "most Americans couldn't care less what religion I am" (121). At first, he refused to even discuss it. He became much more guarded as it became clear his assumption was wrong. He finally attempted to "translate it into terms acceptable to evangelicals," especially during his "Faith in America" speech on December 6, 2007.

Overall, Foster believes Romney's loss was largely on his own shoulders. He "did not present himself well and thus came across as smug, artificial, and calculating." He tried to pose as a "Reagan conservative" despite actually being a "moderate with a dash of Reagan conservatism." But Foster says Romney was not totally to blame for his reputation because "the media obviously had its own discomfort issues with Romney," resulting in many poor public portrayals. After losing key primary elections, Romney dropped from the race and campaigned for John McCain, who eventually won the Republican nomination and lost the general election (219). Foster paints an overly-simplistic, somewhat conservative-favoring view of "the media." The very placement of the "Media Bias" section within the "Left Hook" chapter, which discusses the criticism Romney received from the left, is symptomatic of the common conservative assumption that the "mainstream media" is out to get them (123-137). Undoubtedly there are reporters, editors, networks and news organizations who are more prone to appeal to certain political perspectives. Journalists do not just report happenings, they are always at the least indirectly involved in them. But consider this sentence: "The media is prejudiced against Mitt Romney." Taken literally, this sentence indicates that CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, the Huffington Post, Newsweek, The Washington Post, E!, the Drudge Report, Google News (an aggregator!)--and countless other outlets--are prejudiced against Romney. This claim is clearly false. (Also note I'm confining "media" to news organizations, although "media" includes much more.)

Trying to confine a bias problem to the so-called "mainstream media" does not resolve the problem, either. As Foster shows, conservatives were just as eager to poke fun at Romney's Mormon underwear as liberals were, and they did so in any number of publications (125-126). But there were also journalists and editorialists who came to Romney's defense.

As Romney's faith received frequent treatment among journalists, the role of the LDS Public Affairs department grew to help respond to questions about belief and practice. Foster mentions some of the issues that frequently arose, including polygamy, racism, and personal revelation. But this collection of concerns left me wondering what Foster thinks the most important "Mormon question" is--or whether it is a single question or a collection of several related concerns. Does the Mormon question revolve around the doctrinal differences between Mormons and evangelical Christianity? Fundamentalists like Bill Keller worry about electing the member of a "cult" to the presidency (155) while secularists like Timothy Garton Ash simply ask how an educated man like Romney could possibly believe "such a wacky collection of man-made Moronical codswallop" as found in Mormonism (132).

Ironically, it is the usually-boorish Christopher Hitchens who captures what I see as the most enduring aspect of the Mormon question, perhaps the main concern of the widest number of American voters:

"The Mormons claim that their leadership is prophetic and inspired and that its rulings take precedence over any human law. The constitutional implications of this are too obvious to need spelling out, but it would be good to see Romney spell them out anyway" (132).

Foster recognizes this as being same question Mormon Senator Reed Smoot faced a century ago--and more recently, John F. Kennedy. Would Kennedy, as a Catholic, bow to the dictates of the Pope as president? "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute," Kennedy declared in his landmark speech on religion and politics "where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishoners for whom to vote" (x).

In Romney's similarly-themed speech "Faith in America" delivered in December 2007 he pointedly stated: "Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin" (226).7 There are at least two problems with Romney's statement.

First, Romney elsewhere seemed more ambiguous about the question. Less than a week after the speech when he was asked directly about how he would handle personal revelation or prophetic guidance from his leaders regarding presidential decisions he fumbled: "I don't recall God speaking to me. I don't know if he's spoken to anyone since Moses in the bush...or perhaps some others" (129-130). Romney had already been perceived as evasive and had been labeled a "flip-flopper" (a rather unfortunate label regardless. Should a politician ever change positions upon learning more about an issue?) (96, 102). Romney's uncomfortable equivocations could not have helped overcome such concerns.

Second, leaders of the LDS Church does not seem to view their province as ending where affairs of the nation begin. While leaders do not advocate for any particular candidate, Foster acknowledges several "moral issues" Church leadership has publicly addressed. He notes LDS involvement in the Equal Rights Amendment, the legalization of same-sex marriage, and several other issues. Missing from the discussion is the MX missile incident and the Church's more recent statements on illegal immigration, issues which could impact how Romney is received by certain constituencies in 2012 (32-33).

Speaking to different electorates, Romney and Kennedy seem to have different views on the role of religion in politics when it comes to such moral issues. Kennedy envisioned an America where "no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials" (195). Romney emphasized what he understands to be the religious underpinnings of American liberty in general. "We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion. But in recent years ,the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning...The founders proscribed the establishment of a state religion, but they did not countenance the elimination of religion from the public square" (228).

That being the case, it seems that voters could rightfully consider how pronouncements on moral issues from LDS leaders might affect the decisions of a Latter-day Saint president, one who appears more devoted to his faith than Kennedy was to his. A second edition of this book could elaborate much more on this aspect of the Mormon question.

A second edition could allow for one more area of improvement. Foster minimizes the voices of non-Republican Latter-day Saints. In a few instances he recognizes when Romney ruffled some Latter-day Saint feathers--one blogger criticized Romney for saying he "can't imagine anything more awful than polygamy" for instance (128, see also 188). But there are nearly no Mormon democrat, Independent, or strictly politically-disinterested LDS voices to be found. Certainly other such perspectives on how Romney's campaigns and their affect on the Church are needed. Especially if Romney decides to run for president again. He could also compare the treatment of current Senate majority leader Harry Reid's religious views, as well as other prominent LDS politicians. Such examination could shed further light on how the religious right and others view a conservative Mormon candidate in comparison to how other LDS politicians are viewed.

Overall, Foster encapsulates an impressive amount of Romney coverage which makes the book worth reading for anyone interested in public and media perceptions of Mormonism during Romney's run. His account also gives readers an idea of what they might expect from pundits, politicians and journalists in the coming election should Romney announce his candidacy. The last election certainly did not answer the Mormon questions. It may have simply multiplied them.

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