I see that Jonathan Last and Michael Novak have been having at it , and getting me in the middle. Please leave me out of it. I have written about the Mormon factor in the Romney candidacy here , here , and here . But let me spare you the trouble of re-reading all that. My argument can be briefly summarized:
(1) If people who are concerned for religious reasons about the influence of Mormonism oppose Gov. Romney’s candidacy, that is not necessarily an instance of bigotry;
(2) It certainly does not violate the constitutional prohibition of a religious test for public office, since people may support or oppose a candidate for any reason they think pertinent, even voting for a candidate because she is a woman (without establishing a sexual test for public office);
(3) Those who oppose Romney for the aforementioned reason should not be told that politics trumps religion;
(4) I believe a candidate should be judged by the four criteria of policies, character, competence, and electability;
(5) I think Romney is a very appealing candidate, although, contra my friend Michael, I do not do endorsements.
Now that I have stepped out of the ring, Jonathan and Michael can go to it.
