To very loosely paraphrase the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen: I remember Jack Kennedy. I admired Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was my president. And Gov.Romney? You’re no Jack Kennedy.
Somehow it was a fitting commentary on the sad state of American politics, when Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s speech earlier this week at the George Bush Library in College Station Texas, was arrogantly billed as Mormonism’s answer to John F. Kennedy’s famous campaign address in defense of his Catholicism.
Balderdash. This was at best Romney’s JFK-lite, very lite moment. More accurately, this was the candidate as Ken Doll offering up a Potemkinesque warm and fuzzy speech on how swell it is to believe in God. Well, it’s ... swell is what it is.
A small bit of history.
In 1960, in his campaign for the presidency against then Vice President Richard Nixon, John Kennedy confronted a growing chorus of concern from mostly evangelical Christian quarters about his Roman Catholic faith. Frets abounded JFK would govern as a surrogate of the Vatican.
To address those worries, on Sept. 12, 1960 John Kennedy traveled directly into the heart of the Bible Belt, to Texas and a gathering of the Houston Ministerial Association.
During his remarks, Kennedy made no apologies for his Catholic roots. In fact he used the word Catholic no fewer than 19 times in his relatively brief remarks, insisting he would not be the pope’s patsy in the White House.
Indeed the candidate, in what would be considered strict conservative Constitutional principles today, said he opposed sending an ambassador to the Vatican, as well as noting he opposd public funding for any church or church school.
The speech helped allay fears of seeing a Catholic ascend to the presidency.
By contrast, Romney’s remarks fell far short of their original billing.
Where JFK appeared before people who were highly suspect of his intentions and indeed ran the risk of being shunned by the ministers, Romney safely appeared before a friendly audience of Republican fellow travelers.
Where Kennedy made frequent direct references to his faith, Romney mentioned his Mormonism - once.
Where Kennedy was speaking to advance his role as the Democratic Party presidential nominee, Romney is scrabbling to even win the Republican nomination against a crowded field, as well as fend off advances made be former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who enjoys support among the evangelical wing of the GOP.
Yes, it should be noted that in reality history as shown John Kennedy was about as devout a practicing Catholic as Hugh Hefner. By now, the assassinated president’s sexual escapades are legendary. But at the time in 1960, the nation saw a young, handsome, charismatic political figure attending mass, playing the role of family man and loyal husband. And it worked - all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Romney did his best before the assembled friendly crowd. But he is an awkward orator, lacking that intangible oooooomph of a JFK to rally and inspire.
The speech itself was essentially a dry recitation about the importance of faith, his own belief in God and the obligatory promise to keep the affairs of God and state distinct should be elected. Hey, thanks.
The speech also included this odd moment: “… freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom.” It was one of those classic stump lines that sounds great as it rolls off the candidate’s tongue, until you realize it makes no logical sense whatsoever.
Rightly or wrongly, fairly or not, Romney and his Mormonism face a tough up-hill struggle.
Human beings fear what they don’t know and/or don’t understand.
And purely a matter of retail politics, Mormonism is a tough sell, with the special underwear thing, to God coming back to earth to live in Missouri (Missouri!?!?!?), to the bizarre life of founder Joseph Smith, to yes, the now banned practice of polygamy.
Just as fairly you can probably look at any religious faith and find strange, odd, goofy practices, beliefs and rituals. After all, this is God stuff. And God works in mysterious ways, does she not?
In the end did Romney’s Texas speech help his bid for the White House? Well, it probably didn’t hurt, which is the first rule of politics - do no harm, to yourself.
We’ll know for sure a few weeks, once votes FINALLY start to be counted. Then we’ll find out if the Romney campaign is Camelot II, or more of a case of Willard, we hardly knew ye.