Moral Majority cofounder Paul Weyrich, who endorsed Mitt Romney last week, lays out his case in this morning’s Washington Times. Weyrich tackles the Mormon question right up top, noting that “Nearly every critical message against my endorsement used the governor’s Mormon religion as the reason I should not have done so.”
Sticking to the religion front, he continues:
If we were endorsing Mr. Romney for head of the Southern Baptist Convention, or in my case as head of the synod of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the objections of these Evangelical Christians would be wholly appropriate. But we are not….
And while I very much disagree with the theology of the Mormon Church, its principles have given him the ethical standards needed for an American president. Can anyone point to scandals connected with the governor?
It sounds to God-o-Meter like Romney himself took some time to chat with Weyrich, a habit that GOM credits with so many of Romney’s recent endorsements from Christian Right figures. Here’s a graph from Weyrich to illustrate the point:
Mr. Romney listens. We don’t agree on everything. I don’t know of any candidate with whom I agree on absolutely everything. The governor gives me the opportunity to make my views known to him. He is open to reasonable argument. No president should come to office with a closed mind on everything, but should have a set of general principles. Mr Romney will be a president who is anxious to learn the truth. He wants to know if new developments may change his perspective on things.
But it also sounds like Weyrich is expecting more from Romney on his Mormonism. From the final graph:
Once the religion issue can be appropriately explained in its proper context, I believe the governor will stand up to Sen. Hillary Clinton or whoever the Democrats nominate.
6
