A MORMON IN THE WHITE HOUSE: 10 THINGS EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MITT ROMNEY
BY HUGH HEWITT
REGNERY, 311 PAGES, $27.95
SPEAKING in New Hampshire last weekend, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clin ton called on the memory of John F. Kennedy and his successful milestone of a presidential campaign. “He was smart, he was dynamic, he was inspiring and he was Catholic. A lot of people back then [1960] said, ‘America will never elect a Catholic as president.’ ” Now, she said, “when people tell me ‘a woman can never be president,’ I say, we’ll never know unless we try.”
These are the kind of remarks the Mormon who wants to be her general-election opponent, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, could wind up delivering himself. The idea behind it – Americans aren’t bigots – is the bottom-line of radio-talk-show host and blogging machine Hugh Hewitt’s new book, “A Mormon in the White House.”
Hewitt opens the book with an odd quote though: “Mr. President,” Dean Acheson says in a call to Harry Truman. “The North Koreans have invaded South Korea.” Hewitt writes, “It is with evenings like that one of June 24, 1950, in mind that Americans ought to cast their primary and general election votes for presidents. When devastating surprises arrive, whether on Dec. 7, 1941, Sept. 11, 2001, or any such future day – and there will be many – our country’s survival depends upon the man or woman in the Oval Office.”
Now maybe it’s a New York thing, but if I didn’t know I was reading a Romney book by a Romney fan, I’d immediately have figured I was about to read about Rudy Giuliani.
So what makes Romney the guy you’d want taking the call? It’s not a question Hewitt answers at too great length or too convincingly.
But then again it’s good to remember an important truth in March 2007, one that Hewitt acknowledges even while writing a whole book about Romney: It’s early yet. While we have celebrity candidates – the Barack Obama phenomenon, America’s Mayor, a former First Lady, the media-saturating Vietnam POW hero – it’s still a while until votes are cast. America hasn’t gotten to know Romney yet and any non-political junkie who does know him probably considers him the Mormon candidate or the latter-day social conservative.
Hewitt does Romney no favors when he ODs on adjectives describing Romney and his professional exploits: “extraordinary,” “remarkable as a student he “stormed BYU” and “blitzed Cambridge” at Harvard. Hewitt looks like he’s trying too hard for his subject, when Romney’s resume stands on its own.
Still Hewitt’s enthusiasm is a bug any voter would want to catch. And if his book is your first introduction to Romney, I suspect you’ll be favorably disposed, and will want to know more and hear more from the man himself.
The book includes interviews with the candidate and his well-adjusted family as well as generous primary documents. Ultimately, Hewitt arrives at what likely will be a key part of Romney’s campaign: competent conservatism from a leader with a solid moral character.
Hewitt does cover what has made me a Romney fan: When it comes to complicated life issues – like cloning – Romney took the time to understand the issue in order to lead a fight he was unlikely to win but that was important all the same.
It’s far-fetched to believe a political consultant told him that pushing back against cloning and gay marriage as governor of Massachusetts would be the perfect Iowa-primary pander. More likely, his staff – the core of which is conservative – told him “this is important for humanity,” and he did the right thing.
With Giuliani or McCain, conservatives may be poised to give in to candidates who simply won’t lead on important issues. Hewitt declares that McCain “is no conservative” and “Giuliani would make a superb Secretary of Defense.” Romney, then, may be the alternative to social surrender.
The evangelical Hewitt says that if Romney doesn’t get to the White House in 2008 because he’s Mormon, it’s bigotry plain and simple. Hewitt’s right – the prospect that Romney could be barred from the White House on that basis is a disturbing one. The next year may tell us a lot – about Mitt Romney and about ourselves.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online (nationalreview.com).