The Prospect of a Mormon President

Now that Mitt Romney has secured his position as the Republican Party’s candidate for the American presidential elections this November, many questions are being raised about his faith, his qualifications and his chances of defeating the current president.

Concerning the first question, the headlines in newspapers and online do not hide their quest for a response to a common question: Are Americans prepared to elect a Mormon president? Although it seems irrelevant, there is no doubt that religion plays a fundamental role in U.S. elections. There are historians who say that one of the factors that rendered Michael Dukakis – a Democratic politician of Greek origin and member of the Orthodox Church – unelectable in November of 1988 was exactly that: religion.

Some sources argue that Romney’s election would be a “golden opportunity” for a church whose major objective is to broaden its support among all of the U.S. — and even internationally. But this could also be seriously risky. A Mormon spokesman has already announced that the church will remain neutral in the elections.

The advantages of Romney presidency begin with the possible opening up that the church, which was founded more than 200 years ago and which has experienced persecution at various times, would benefit from were Romney in the White House.

The risks of persistent skepticism about Romney’s faith should be subjected to further investigation, like the research performed by Bloomberg news in March, which concluded that at least one in three Americans has an unfavorable opinion of the Mormon Church.

No matter what, things in the U.S. are inclined to openness, and the current pessimism can be compared with the circumstances that surrounded the Obama’s election, the country’s first black president. It is possible that the simple fact of Romney’s nomination demonstrates at least one of two things: either the Republican field does not have another figure of sufficient stature to confront Obama or things are really changing.

Indeed, Romney was the most improbable candidate for the nomination, out of a pool of potential winners that included Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. Romney’s improbability was largely due to religious factors.

His victory could be a signal that things really are changing in the Republican camp, where the influence of Christian evangelicals — who see Mormonism as a non-Christian cult – no longer counts as much in the process of selecting the party’s candidate.

As a political analyst said, “There will be a small segment of evangelical voters who won’t accept the Mormon faith as a tenet of Christianity, but most voters will be tolerant.”

As far as Romney’s qualifications are concerned, an unlikely voice has affirmed that Romney is, indeed, qualified for the position of president of the United States – although, for reasons of partisan solidarity, this voice supports Obama’s candidacy. This voice is Bill Clinton, a Democrat and former president of the United States. In an interview with CNN, he said that there is no doubt that, “a man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold.”

Basically, for Clinton, who favors Obama for a second term as president, the debate is not about who is the best for the United States.

The fundamental issue, he said, is the package of proposals that each one presents to get out of the current crisis of recovery in which the American economy finds itself.

The deluge of polls presents, in the majority, the two candidates neck-in-neck at a time when the unemployment figures could be what swings the election. Romney is making the economy the central theme of his campaign, and many believe that if the unemployment levels stay between 8 and 9 percent or break double digits, Obama will struggle to win re-election. One of the things that perks up Romney’s candidacy is the fact that the polls have placed him in the lead in important states. No candidate has won the presidency since 1960 without winning at least two of the three states considered as “important” — Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Romney is leading in all three states.

Looking at this situation, which characterizes the race between Obama and Romney, both in fundraising efforts and actual campaign support, neither will manage to win by a large majority.

Returning to the question of religion, some may remember that the founder of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, also gambled for the White House, back in 1844. Now, a century and a half later, Romney could be the first Mormon president of the United States.