God, Man and Campaign 2012

05 January 2012 |permalink | email article

Amy Davidson, in The New Yorker, raises the question of whether a Catholic or Mormon can win over the Republican Party’s evangelical basis. An excerpt: We are more than a half century removed from John F. Kennedy’s campaign to be the first Catholic President. In a speech that he felt he needed to give, at the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, he said: “For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew—or a Quaker or a Unitarian or a Baptist.” Watching his speech on the subject now, one is struck not only by his words but the expressions on the faces of the people who are listening—really that prospect seems remote listening, it appears to words thoughtfully spoken This has not been the spirit of the speakers or the audience in a dozen or so debates so far. . . But as we get to the playoffs, the protestations and pandering may turn into a discussion of God and man and the electorate that is far more intense, and potentially for more ugly. It could be illuminating . . . And yet that prospect seems remote: it would mean a different campaign, with a different tone than we have seen and heard so far.

Pushing Forward

After Michelle Bachmann pulled out of the race Rick Perry decided to stay in. He won’t campaign in New Hampshire but still intends to participate in debates on ABC and NBC’s “Meet the Press” this weekend but will campaign next week in South Carolina. Early on, the Texas governor appeared to be Romney’s chief threat and had good support from conservatives and evangelicals but his terrible debate performances badly hurt his standing and fifth place finish. He’s got enough money to compete in the Palmetto state but would need to reboot in Florida before Jan. 31. Perry’s odd reemergence suggests just difficult it now is to find a real conservative as money bags Romney nails down the Republican establishment.

Quotable

Romney’s PAC, Restore Our Future, has spent $2.85 million to attack other candidates, in particular Newt Gingrich. In a New York Times editorial the newspaper said “Mr. Romney has effectively outsourced his negative advertising to a group that has raised millions of dollars from his donors to inundate his opponents with attacks.”

“You gotta fight for the people. He’s not a fighter. He’s a good, strategic guy, but he’s not a fighter.”—Bill Moyers, referring to Barack Obama in an interview on KCET’s SoCal Connected, airing Friday at 8:30 PM. Could the icon perhaps be a little out of touch?

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