Who let the Mitt out?

Mitt Romney wants you to know he loves black people. And not just the ones his campaign selects for the background. He loves them all.

OK, so he lied about that whole dad marching with MLK thing. But when you get down to it, that depends on how you see the definition of “saw.” A chunk from the Boston Globe article on Romney’s Clintonian word-play:

Mitt Romney acknowledged … he never saw his father march with Martin Luther King Jr. as he asserted in a nationally televised speech this month, and historical evidence shows that Michigan's Governor George Romney and the civil rights leader never did march together.

"If you look at the literature, if you look at the dictionary, the term 'saw' includes being aware of in the sense I've described," Romney told reporters in Iowa. "It's a figure of speech and very familiar, and it's very common. And I saw my dad march with Martin Luther King. I did not see it with my own eyes, but I saw him in the sense of being aware of his participation in that great effort."

See, he wasn’t misleading the public. He was speaking like a literary icon. Rushdie. Saramago. Romney.

To be honest, I feel for Mitt. Seriously.

From the beginning, he has been backed into a corner on the issue of race. Not because of anything from his past (except for an obviously sheltered upbringing), but because his Mormon faith excluded blacks from full participation in the church until 1978. OK, so that’s not exactly something you slap on the church stationary.

Maybe that’s why Romney still walks around with this Mormon Guilt Complex. As the spotlight grows brighter and brighter on his campaign, it gets increasingly difficult to justify that stain on his church’s record. And each time he attempts to explain away or outright defend the indefensible, he overcompensates – or out and out lies – and then comes off looking like a fool. Not a good situation.

Of course, not everyone thinks the “Mormon Candidate” tag has been a burden. The Desert Morning News
reported that his faith is becoming less of an issue with voters. Wow. That’s certainly a different take from other outlets. And there might be a reason for that: The Desert Morning News newspaper is owned by the Mormon Church.

To me, bickering about whose religion is purer than the other is a bit disingenuous. I don’t remember anyone asking Catholic candidates why it took until 1992 for the church to apologize to Galileo and officially concede that the Earth was not stationary and did indeed rotate around the sun. So, at best, I say we call it a draw.

My feelings on this haven’t changed much on Mitt since I wrote a month or so ago about his speech on faith:

He still seems like a man running from something.

Beautiful words. Funny thing, however - that would be the only time he would utter the word "Mormon" during the entire 20-minute address. Sure, he spoke often of "my religion," "my faith" even "my church." But he dropped the M-Bomb only once. Interesting choice.

I know it’s difficult for a guy like Mitt who while already appearing uncomfortable in his own skin now has to deal with folks with entirely different skin. It makes for awkward moments like last week’s painful-to-watch “Who Let the Dogs Out?” moment.

I don’t know how you solve it (maybe listen to some Miles Davis, read some Toni Morrison or perhaps avoid talking for a few months), but if this guy truly wants to be president he’s got to figure out a way to get up for getting down with the people. Or else he might end up like this guy.

And nobody – black, white, Mormon, Christian – can afford another one of those.

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Take five minutes out of your day to join Athens (Ga.) Executive Editor Jason Winders here at ActiVote or at his home blog, The Morning Meeting over at onlineathens.com. You there, in the funny shirt, did you have a comment?