The last time there were rumors that President Obama was going to go after Mitt Romney's religion, he got slammed hard by Jon Stewart:
Once again, there is new speculation that Obama's surrogates plan to go after Mitt Romney's faith since none of Obama's attacks on Mitt are working:
Anyway, attacking Romney on Bain hasn't proved to be effective in any polls, but there is no reason for Obama to stop. Again, what else does he have? Newsweek is doing its part this week by calling Romney a wimp, a la 1987. That petty insult didn't work against George H.W. Bush, but again, it shows the left is mentally exhausted. It reveals how trapped and empty it has become.Obama will figure out a few more promises he can make to lure voters to the dole, but that has become old hat. I really believe there are meetings at the Obama campaign and at the White House (what's the difference?) where the question on the table is, "What can we give away to whom that will get us votes?" As the Obama campaign exhausts itself, having misspent money and failed with its messages too early in the election cycle, it is near the bottom of the barrel. The final 100 days are here and all Obama can do is attack — but he needs some new material.I look for the "September surprise" to be Mormonism on trial. At first the attacks will come from marginal surrogates, then the reliable half-cocked usual suspects among Democrats in Congress. (Somebody cue Debbie Wasserman Schultz.) Next, a member of the left's apologencia from the MSM will write a cerebral, somber piece saying the tenets of Mormonism are fair game, and then we will be off to Slimytown. Romney will be confronted with this or that Mormon practice or theological position, the late-night comics will weigh in and Obama will have a distraction that could linger while he hopes for a break or something external to change the trajectory of the race.
However, going after Mitt Romney's faith is not a winning strategy for Obama:
A new Pew survey released Thursday found that eight in 10 voters either are either completely “comfortable” with Romney being a Mormon or simply don’t care. White evangelicals are slightly more skeptical, but the poll found that it made no difference in how ardently they support Romney.Further evidence indicates that attacking Mitt's faith would be a losing strategy for Obama:Not only do voters have huge information gaps when it comes to candidates’ religions, but they are not interested in learning more. Another Pew survey released July 24 found that only 16 percent of voters want to know more about Romney’s faith. There are a couple of explanations for that fact; voters may think they already know what candidates believe, or they might not find it particularly relevant to who they plan on voting for.
The latter is certainly the case for a large number of religious voters. Most voters surveyed say the economy is their primary issue, and other evidence suggests that Christians, Jews, and Mormons alike are more likely to vote for a candidate’s policies instead of basing their decision on his or her religion. (The same is true for other groups: immigrants, for example, consistently rate the economy as more important than immigration.) Sectarian political identification may have been alive and well in the JFK era, but it seems to have evaporated since then.
Regardless if the speculation that Obama or his surrogates will go after Mitt is true or not, its not winning strategy for Obama. Obama has unleashed all of his arsenal on Mitt and none of it has stuck. Obama might be desperate enough to try this attack on Mitt's religion just to win another term but the American people will see right through it.
I think Dems should ask Harry Reid to attack Mormonism....
ReplyDeleteNow, waitaminute...That gives me an idea for a cartoon..... Hehehe...Stay tuned!
I want to be the first to see that Cartoon Sal! :)
ReplyDeleteI would add to what Jared wrote in the article one other possibility: How exactly does a candidate's religion make him/her more liberal/conservative? Again, take a look at about most religions or even denominations out there, and people can come out on either side of the political aisle.
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