Reassuring Evangelicals . . .

Governor Romney’s declaration to deliver a “Religious Address” comes to no surprise to some and appears to be well in maturation of need in reassuring evangelicals.

In an October CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll found that only “19 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon for president, and 77 percent said the issue would make no difference.” The significance of religion as it relates to the presidency has been down played by many political analysts yet at the same time present surges in other polls and history hint religion to be an underlying foundation in establishing personal criteria by which many Americans vote. Within the documentary describing the grass roots political battlefield of Ohio, . . .So Goes the Nation (2006), the significance of religious and moral values perceived within President Bush were deciding factors for why many voted the way they did. At the time President Bush lagged in many of the polls in Ohio and seemed to not be as favored as Kerry. Ohio Voters found President Bush’s religious character to be more in agreement to their own beliefs winning over voters’ hearts. In many instances the perceived preserving a voters core beliefs weighed more significant than agreeing upon all political issues.

And so we turn to Mitt Romney whose religious and political repertoire can win the hearts of Americans. Governor Romney’s declared Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Faith has been little understood and poorly known by many for decades. Yet if one were to come to understand the tenets and core beliefs of this religion, misunderstandings would be set aside and a unity of ethics, and moral beliefs in and out of politics would be achieved.

The difficulty of discussing such issues is that this is a political campaign not a religious one. Yet, in the core of many Americans religious beliefs define their voting ways. Governor Romney has the great task of uniting Americans of various religious and political minds. Knowing of the defining principles on which he draws upon, this is a task that Governor Romney is well equipped to do.