Ausborne Blog

Ed Morrissey has a nice write-up and commentary on a Dan Gilgoff article about how evangelicals (not individually, but the evangelical movement in general) are to blame for McCain being the Republican nominee this year.

I certainly don’t know everything there is about politics but I honestly feel that Mitt Romney was the best that the Republicans had to offer this year. My prediction is that the Republicans will get crushed in November, thus opening the door for a Romney run in 2012. We’ll see … eventually.

Ed Morrissey wonders about the government’s role in the saving of American souls.

“People mocked Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney for their religious backgrounds often during the presidential campaigns, but at least they never claimed to be on a mission to save the souls of Americans through government action. Oh, people accused them of wanting to do so — to impose Southern Baptist or Mormon theology on an America that wants relentless secularism, but in point of fact both men gave stirring speeches on how their faith informs them personally but not their governance.

One campaign really has explicitly claimed to be on such a mission, however. Michelle Obama gave a speech at UCLA earlier this month in which she told supporters that her husband was the only man who could fix American souls — if we elect him President first.”

I always find it amazing how fickle people can be.  There’s a sentiment of, “If my candidate is doing it, it’s great.  If the other guy is doing it, though, ridicule him.”  Check out the rest of it, as well as the comments.

I’m kind of bummed that Mitt Romney didn’t win the Republican nomination. I really don’t like McCain or Huckabee. I don’t like Clinton or Obama. The only person I really liked apart from Romney was Thompson and that sure didn’t turn out so well. So, I was reading this evening about how Romney’s candidacy affected, and was affected by, the LDS Church.

Before Romney ran, Mormons thought they were generally accepted in the mainstream, especially after their previous success in the world spotlight: the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.

Yet, in November, half of respondents to an Associated Press-Yahoo poll said they had some problems supporting a Mormon presidential candidate. Among white evangelicals, more than half expressed reservations about backing a Latter-day Saint.

“I was surprised at the level of intensity and sometimes flat out animosity,” said Lowell C. Brown, a Los Angeles attorney who is Mormon. “I had no idea. I’m in my 50s, I’ve been a Mormon all my life, I’ve lived in L.A. for 25 years, and it floored me.”

Seeing as how I live in Utah, I didn’t exactly witness any of the anti-Mormon, anti-Romney sentiment. That said, I couldn’t believe it when I read some blog comments like, “I’ll never trust a Mormon.” I’ll admit that it was little depressing. I certainly hope that all of the effort that we (collectively) put forth to be good people and do what’s right isn’t for naught.