Thursday, December 06, 2007

Romney Speech Gets Rave Reviews

MSNBC's Chris Matthews says if Mitt Romney wins the presidency, it will have started with this speech.

"Magnificent," said MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan. "It moved me as it went on."

"He hit this thing out of the park," said MSNBC's Joe Scarborough.

The main points in Romney's speech:

  • As president, he said he would serve "no one religion, no one group, no one cause."
  • He said calls for him to explain and justify his faith go against what the Founders intended.
  • He said he shares "the moral convictions" with Americans of all faiths, but pledged to "live by his Mormon faith," even if it costs him the presidency.
  • "I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith, nor should he be rejected because of his faith," Romney said.
  • "Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decision," he said.
  • Romney steered clear of getting specific on the differences between his faith and traditional Christians, saying "each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. ... Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree."

1 comment:

Matt said...

Easily the best political speech of 2007, and possibly of 2008.

But will this put the issue to rest as it should or will this continue to hang over Romney's candidacy?

Back to the speech itself- incredible. Soaring lines, embedded with history, and did what a good political speech ought to: remind us about what's good about this idea called America.