Homocon

Romney grew up in Michigan, where his father was a successful CEO for American Motors, and also a popular three-term governor in the 1960's who also enjoyed a stint as Nixon's secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Mitt received his B.A. from Brigham Young University, then went on to obtain further business and law degrees from Harvard, so the guy's obviously got a bright head on some very capable shoulders, with some solid role modeling, to boot . . . but he's a Mormon, which some political analysts see as a potential problem for his chances of attaining Presidential status, though there are others who believe that the modern conservative movement might just develop a hankering to elect Romney as the first Mormon President in the history of the U.S. in 2008, if only they take the time to get to know him personally.

Terry Eastland wrote in The Weekly Standard that the Republican Party, for 2008, will look for a candidate with conservative credentials, both socially and fiscally, and these are both areas where Romney shines. "He was absolutely spectacular," says Rocky Anderson, the Democratic mayor of Salt Lake City during the Olympic Winter Games. "He was a strong leader, extremely competent. He walked into an utter disaster, and . . . with his unique management skills we came out in the black--which no one ever dreamed."

Under Romney's direction, the Winter Olympics cleared a profit of $100 million, with Romney himself contributing $1 million of his own money and donating his three years pay ($825,000) to charity. He's also foregone his pay as Governor of Massachusetts in order to keep from putting any further strain on a state budget that he believes has more important issues on the table than contributing to his rather sizable personal bank account (Romney was a cofounder and managing partner of Bain Capital, a highly profitable private equity firm out of Boston, while also sitting on the board of office supply giant Staples).

Yet while Romney looks very attractive as a fiscally sound leader, he has a muddled history on abortion (Michael Murphy, Romney's political strategist, said, "(Romney's) been a pro-life Mormon faking it as pro-choice friendly" in order to win office in Massachusetts), he carries a slight taint of financial impropriety, and a 2000 national survey by Ellison Research of 518 Protestant ministers found that 76% admitted they'd be less than inclined to vote for a Mormon candidate. While Romney was able to attain the governorship of Massachusetts despite holding what many consider rather cultish beliefs, running for the Presidency is an entirely different matter, and the 527's will be vicious in their attacks (it's a solid bet that the exclusion of blacks from the Mormon priesthood until 1978 will be boldly highlighted).

Orrin Hatch, a fellow Mormon who tried the Presidential route in 2000, found it rough going when he attempted to convince America that Mormons aren't crazy, but the Mormon Church has been going through a type of reformation of late, ditching polygamy and reaffirming their Christian roots, and Romney's own nonsmoking, non-drinking, non-cursing, nice-guy with a sharp business sense persona will at least gain him a hearing with conservative Christians, along with his recent veto on embryonic stem cell research ("Some of the practices that Harvard and probably other institutions in Massachusetts are engaged in cross the line of ethical conduct," he said in an announcement via the New York Times, adding "It is wrong to allow science to take an assembly-line approach to the production of human embryos" -- though Romney does support experimentation on surplus frozen embryos from in-vitro fertilization procedures, and he enthusiastically advocates adult stem-cell research, which has repeatedly proven itself more effective and more promising than embryonic stem-cell research) and his adamant opposition to the legalization of gay marriage by judicial fiat: "Because of marriage's pivotal role, nations and states have chosen to provide unique benefits and incentives to those who choose to be married. These benefits are not given to single citizens, groups of friends, or couples of the same sex. That benefits are given to married couples and not to singles or gay couples has nothing to do with discrimination; it has everything to do with building a stable new generation and nation."

James Jewell at Stones Cry Out suggests that evangelical Christians would focus more on Romney's conservative values than on his Mormonism, and he may just be right. With the possibility of a Hillary candidacy for the Democrats, conservatives of all stripes may just decide to get over the superficial differences and concentrate on voting for a candidate who reflects conservative policies on a broader scale: "Hard work, personal sacrifice, education, integrity and the foundation of the family have been, and always will be, the source of our strength," Romney stated during his 2004 speech at the Republican National Convention.

And perhaps this is the core of who Mitt Romney is, and what he wishes to represent as President of the United States should he decide to seriously toss his hat into the ring. But there are a lot of questions he'll first need to answer regarding his shifting stance on abortion, his confusing hair-splitting on embryonic stem-cell research (frozen, non-frozen, does the pro-life group see any difference?), and the questionable past of the Mormon church, just for starters. He definitely has potential as a candidate, especially when you research his success in implementing successful fiscal policies, but Ross Perot ran as a business-man, too, and look what happened to him . . .