Monday, February 11, 2008

Letter: Endorsements Miss Real Story

Steve,

You, (and everyone else), have missed the biggest story of this election cycle.

This season has brought out the worst in our countrymen. Voters in both parties have been willing to stand and support, (or oppose), candidates because of the candidates' Race, Religion, Age, and Gender.

The Democrats have an excuse.

In as much as the two leading Candidates are very close on the issues, choosing one over the other because you want someone who looks like you, is not so terribly bad. That said, Bill Richardson, (maybe the best of all the candidates), and John Edwards, were knocked out because neither of them had a block of voters who supported them because they were men.

(Richardson was Hispanic, I bet some folks voted against him for his National Origin.)

The Republicans have no excuse. Mitt Romney had the most impressive resume of anyone running.

Sadly, he lost not because of his beliefs, nor his experience. While almost all Mormons voted for him because he was a Mormon, many of the Christians voted against him purely out of their bigotry against Mormons.

McCain won not because he was well liked in the Republican party, but because he was neither a Mormon, nor a solid Christian. (Yes, non-believers quickly took the opportunity to vote against believers.)

Huckabee is winning states even though he has said some crazy things about Gay Marriage. This guy is a great speaker; however, he is not fit to win the Republican nomination.

The Republicans are about to nominate a guy they hate--because their religious bigotry did not allow them to vote for the guy who came most closely to supporting their views.

McCain has no chance to win in November. (That is, unless we can win the War, and get most of our troops back before November.)

If the economy goes as I expect it will, and if we are in deep economic trouble in October, (as I believe we will be), Romney's experience and superior, (to all the other candidates), business knowledge might have carried him over the top.

This is a time when we need a president who understands trade, and the economy.

Romney is the only candidate from either party who understands how the economy works.

Should he have been nominated? I do to know. Could he have won in November? Even if the economy was the major issue, it is very doubtful he could have won against either Democrat.

However, the fact that he lost because of religious bigotry, is disturbing--VERY DISTURBING!

Mick Pulliam

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// posted by Steve Thurston @ 4:37 PM
Comments:
I'm a Mormon and when Mitt finally bowed out it was like I could finally breathe again. I remember the day he announced his candidacy and I remember the next day or two when the polls started airing on whether or not someone would feel okay with a Mormon in the white house. Everytime a news story like this ran it was like a big punch in the gut. Most of my life I've felt like a pretty normal American. The last year or so I've felt almost uncomfortable in my own skin. I've seen fliers from Baptist organizations and seen smearing stuff on the Internet but this was so in your face. I hope some day the nation that ran my ancestors out of Illinois and Missouri can come to accept that we are pretty honest sincere Christians who aren't "weird" and make pretty okay neighbors.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 3:38 PM
 
As a follow-up to my comments above: I don't mind McCain at all. I was pulling for McCain and Bradley over Bush and Gore in 2000 actually. I think that Mitt made some mistakes in his campaign and did try to portray himself as farther right than he really is. The nation is ready for a different kind of politician in the white house and Mitt could've used his vast wealth to put out ads that showed a creative or inspiring message; instead he went to negative/contrast ads. He tried to hard to please the republican base instead of just being who he is. You don't get elected as governor of Mass. being a died in the wool conservative. Mitt is a moderate conservative and probably a majority of Mormons fall in that category. That's just the thing -- we aren't a crazed right wing lock-step group. Harry Reid of the Senate is a Mormon too after all. The evangelical thing really bothers me to this day. Its like a whole block of Americans came out to the polls and recodified all these aged stereotypes. I'm sad about the whole affair -- doesn't bother me that Mitt won't get a chance to run for the white house, just the underlying reasons why he won't be running.

PS I inwardly cringe to think what the news media and opposing pundits would've made of the "Mormon issue" HAD Mitt received the nomination. Mitt may have made a great leader to help us pull through tough economic times but I think the religious bigotry issue would've played out as well in the general election and kept him from winning anyway. Maybe I should just move to Utah to get away from this heavy rebuked feeling I feel about my own religion. Then I could fall in line with the stereotype: you know after all, that's where all those Mormons live...

(sorry folks, thanks for the ranting space)
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 4:01 PM
 

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