{"id":285,"date":"2008-01-28T12:48:15","date_gmt":"2008-01-28T12:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godometer\/2008\/01\/romney-vs-dobson-both-sides-wi.html"},"modified":"2008-01-28T12:48:15","modified_gmt":"2008-01-28T12:48:15","slug":"romney-vs-dobson-both-sides-wi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godometer\/2008\/01\/romney-vs-dobson-both-sides-wi.html","title":{"rendered":"Romney vs. Dobson. Both Sides Win."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"romney12.jpg\"So there\u2019s a public rift between the Romney campaign and Focus on the Family Action over a comment in Focus\u2019s recent video voter guide that the Mormon Mitt Romney has acknowledged he\u2019s not a Christian, right?
\nActually, according to God-o-Meter\u2019s reporting, that’s wrong. Sure, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom told TIME\u2019s Swampland<\/a> on Saturday that “The governor has not made that acknowledgment. He has said that his belief is not the same as others. But there is no doubt that Jesus Christ is at the center of the LDS church’s worship.”
\nBut check out the second Fehrnstrom quote:<\/p>\n

“Now some people define ‘Christianity’ differently,” Fehrnstrom continued. “Some people believe that ‘Christianity’ is a group of evangelical churches. Others believe that ‘Christianity’ is any church that follows the teaching of Jesus Christ, and that is what the LDS church believes.” I asked Fehrnstrom if that was also what Romney believed. He said yes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rather than exposing a rift between Romney and Focus, however, this line from the Romney camp allows both parties to stand their ground. Though Romney considers himself a Christian, a top Romney advisor tells God-o-Meter, the campaign is perfectly happy for others to draw the opposite conclusion, as Focus on the Family Action has. \u201cDifferent audiences hear different messages that are unique to them, and that\u2019s why that speech was so powerful and effective,\u201d said the advisor, referring to Romney\u2019s \u201cFaith in America\u201d speech in Dallas last month, which Focus on the Family Action public policy chief Tom Minnery cited as the basis for his interpretation of Romney not thinking himself a Christian. Here\u2019s what Romney said in the speech:<\/p>\n

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind. My church’s beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, the Romney campaign says it\u2019s happy for the speech to be a Rorschach test for evangelicals and others. \u201cAt a sporting event, a lot of people watch the same play but see it differently,\u201d says the Romney advisor. The advisor says Romney won\u2019t request that Focus alter or remove its video. A Focus spokesperson says the video will stay up and that the issue is already behind it: “We’ve finished our analysis of the primaries and caucuses that have already occurred. Like the candidates, our attention is now on the Florida primary.\u201d
\nThis arrangement allows both parties to stand their ground and, in God-o-Meter\u2019s eyes, winds up strengthening the Focus-Romney alliance. Romney can continue to benefit from Focus\u2019s tacit support. Focus can stand by its own take on Romney\u2019s faith and continue supporting the candidate it likes best. Politically, it sounds brilliant. It’s also somewhat dishonest. And if the story has legs, will the back-and-forth reignite evangelical doubts about Romney?<\/p>\n


\n8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So there\u2019s a public rift between the Romney campaign and Focus on the Family Action over a comment in Focus\u2019s recent video voter guide that the Mormon Mitt Romney has acknowledged he\u2019s not a Christian, right? Actually, according to God-o-Meter\u2019s reporting, that’s wrong. Sure, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom told TIME\u2019s Swampland on Saturday that “The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mitt-romney"],"yoast_head":"\nRomney vs. Dobson. Both Sides Win. - God-O-Meter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godometer\/2008\/01\/romney-vs-dobson-both-sides-wi.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Romney vs. Dobson. Both Sides Win. - God-O-Meter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So there\u2019s a public rift between the Romney campaign and Focus on the Family Action over a comment in Focus\u2019s recent video voter guide that the Mormon Mitt Romney has acknowledged he\u2019s not a Christian, right? Actually, according to God-o-Meter\u2019s reporting, that’s wrong. 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