Mitt Romney
Where Do You Stand Mr. Romney?
Armstrong Williams
June 7, 2007
I recently watched 60 Minutes and was intrigued with Mike Wallace’s interview of presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney. I was amazed by how reasonable Romney sounded despite all the negative press he has gotten for his religion. See, Romney is Mormon. And most folks think Mormonism is some cult out in Utah where men practice polygamy. And most of the rest of us know it as one of the fastest growing religions in the world but, for some reason still cannot completely understand it.
Romney, while on the campaign trail, says he will not raise taxes and that he will increase efficiency of government, two things that are generally popular. He has recently displayed hard line conservative views on abortion, immigration, gay marriage, and terrorism, which plants him squarely in a niche unfilled by his most daunting opponents, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani. Not only this, but he has a track record of running large companies and making them more efficient, so it would seem he’s not all talk. In fact, as CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games he played a vital role in making the Olympics in Salt Lake City a raging success. (Oh and just in case you were wondering about his character; he contributed one million of his own dollars to the Games and gave his salary of $825,000 per year to charity – just like he did when he was Governor of the great state of Massachusetts for four years.) Furthermore, he is still married to his high school sweetheart and has five well-behaved sons and ten young grandchildren, something that is anything but easy to come by.
However, there is one major hang-up with the 60 year-old Willard Mitt Romney, and that comes from his devout Mormonism. Up until very recently, fewer than ten years ago actually, Mormonism embraced racism, saying that Cain and Ham, two people who were cursed early on in the Bible, were the ancestors of Blacks, and therefore Blacks were cursed. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said blacks could not enter into priesthood, and even if they converted they could only enter into eternity as the lowest among the low. Things as prejudiced and hateful as indicating that Ham had to survive the flood so that the devil could have a representative on earth were espoused by prominent members of the faith.
These startling claims beg the question: can a God-fearing man or woman vote for Mitt Romney, or any Mormon? The fact that he doesn’t drink or smoke, didn’t engage in premarital sex, and supported his wife through a bout with multiple sclerosis makes him a man of enviable moral standing. However, the knowledge of his devout Mormonism seemingly means that prejudice against Blacks has been taught to him for years and would therefore be a part of his deep-seated beliefs. It is necessary to hear how the up-until-recent Mormon teachings on Blacks have impacted Romney, his belief system and his family tree. Until he finds the time to address these teachings of his faith, men of character and enlightenment should find it unconscionable to support Mr. Romney.
Mr. Romney, we anxiously await your reply.
Additionally, Romney is not consistent. Many have called him a flip-flopper because of his changing stances on the big issues. Just this week, McCain called out Romney over his views on the immigration issue saying, “In the case of Governor Romney, you know, maybe I should wait a couple of weeks and see if (his stance) changes, because it's changed in less than a year from his position before.”
Unfortunately for Romney, most people don’t want a flaky candidate; if we vote for someone who is pro-choice, we want him to remain pro-choice no matter the winds, if we vote for someone who pledges to not raise taxes, we want him to refrain from raising taxes regardless of the circumstances. Since we’ve recently seen Romney change his stance on abortion, immigration, gay rights, and gun control, how can he be trusted in any arena? How can anyone be sure that he’ll actually do what he says he would do once elected? Right now, it seems that he is willing to say anything in order to achieve his political goals, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do if elected. Perhaps Romney can take some time over the next year to establish a track record of consistency and show us that he is not prejudiced against Blacks. However, until that happens, he will continue to isolate and repel smart American voters who desire consistency and fairness from their leaders.
