Romney's religion.(POLITICS)(Mitt Romney)

ONE non-Protestant has been elected president in our history. Mitt Romney is being urged to follow John F. Kennedy's example and make a speech taking the "Mormon issue" head on. It is bad advice. Kennedy sought to defuse anti-Catholicism by essentially saying that for purposes of public life he wouldn't be a Catholic. If Romney follows suit, he will be calling his integrity into question. A man so frequently accused of flip-flopping cannot flip-flop about his religion.

Nor should Romney denounce anti-Mormon bigotry. Accusing people who are so far withholding their votes of bigotry is not likely to persuade them to change their minds. Few people who oppose Romney because he is a Mormon are going to come around. Romney's problem, and his opportunity, is a different group of people: those who are not hostile to Mormons but find Mormonism unfamiliar and strange.

Romney need not go into the details of Mormon theology to reassure these people. He need not persuade them that Mormonism is sensible or even that it is a branch of Christianity. He need only say ...