The drama is building as Mitt Romney prepares for his big speech on religion Thursday morning in Texas. Most Washington insiders seem to agree that the address is Romney's biggest gamble to date in his Republican presidential campaign.
On the one hand, his bid has run into trouble in Iowa, where his lead has faded and where former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is surging. Romney's strategy is based on winning Iowa and using it as a springboard to later states. So, while Romney preferred not to give what has become known as "the Mormon speech," his campaign advisers say he has little choice because his religion is now a source of concern to so many Christian conservatives.
"If he didn't have to do it, he wouldn't do it," says a former adviser to a Republican president. The downside is that the speech could simply call more attention to Romney's Mormon faith without relieving voters' anxiety about it. The speech, which Romney and his aides are going over line by line, is already being compared with John F. Kennedy's address to conservative Protestants in 1960, which helped reduce concern about his being a Catholic.
But JFK talked about how he would keep his faith separate from his public policies, while Romney's challenge is different. It comes at a time when many Republicans want their leaders to show more of a commitment to religion and to shift away from secularism, GOP insiders say. So he needs to show how his faith informs his values but at the same time make clear that it wouldn't be a threat to those who don't share his specific beliefs.
"In some ways, Kennedy's task was the easier one," says the former presidential adviser.
—Kenneth T. Walsh
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