Bleah. I'm Voting for Romney

It behooves me to point out here that I had previously said I would not vote for Romney, based on his propensity to change his stated position at the drop of a hat.  This isn't an encouraging sign for times ahead.

What changed my mind?


I think he'll do good things for the economy, and we badly need it.  The world badly needs it, as well.  It's a toss up at this point whether or not we'll actually handle the severity of our indebtedness, if Europe's economy will recover in the near term, if the EU actually holds together as a functional economic unit, if Russia or China manage to overcome their severe internal stresses and actually slide into place as the next superpower, if the existing world order can survive the many great challenges facing it in the years ahead, etc...anyway.  No matter who wins the election, the larger challenges are huge.  Mitt Romney is, if nothing else, a man with experience at taking on organizations with challenges, reshaping them for successful accomplishment of the tasks necessary for flourishing, and sending them on their way.  It is not a perfect track record, but it is a track record with some notable successes.  I think the USA could benefit from such experience at this point.

Pace Mark Shea, I don't think Romney is a cynical moral void without any abiding principles.  I think the man is a truly devout Mormon, very serious about his faith, very committed to the principles and teachings of the LDS.   He has apparently made the same moral compromise many other politicians of all stripes and all faiths have made, which is to say that campaign promises are worth what they cost--absolutely nothing.  And yet he has lived as a serious Mormon all his life--a truly dedicated family man with an apparently successful marriage and family (by successful I mean the members of the family appear to be happy and healthy).  Yes, President Obama also appears to have a successful family life, and God bless him for it.  I'm just pointing out that Romney's family appears to indicate that he does have principles which have served him and those closest to him well.  If you want to know what sort of principles will guide him, I'd say a person would have to look at the moral teaching of the Mormon Church, and perhaps also Stephen Covey's very popular and apparently Mormon-inspired The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People .

I think his faith's teaching on the USA bodes well for his likely dedication to the well-being and flourishing of the USA.  I have little expectation of any sort of pro-life moves from a Romney administration save perhaps some very minor things such as the reinstatement of the Mexico City policy, etc., in part because of Mormonism's stance on abortion:

The Church opposes abortion and counsels its members not to submit to or perform an abortion except in the rare cases where, in the opinion of competent medical counsel, the life or good health of the mother is seriously endangered or where the pregnancy was caused by rape and produces serious emotional trauma in the mother. Even then it should be done only after counseling with the local presiding priesthood authority and after receiving divine confirmation through prayer.

Sound familiar? It's Romney's position, with different elements of it emphasized at different points in his political career. When it was expedient to be pro-choice, he emphasized that women should have access to abortion. When it was expedient to be pro-life, he emphasized that he opposed abortion.  There is a small chance we may see some attempt from Romney to reduce abortion rates in this country, but not much of one.  However, that's preferable to President Obama's staunch pro-choice stance.

On national security, there won't be much of a change from one candidate to the next, and I think everyone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus Christ ought to be very insistent to the President and Congress on matters of human rights, enhanced interrogation, etc.  We have got to stop using the same tactics we've deplored from other people in the past.  We have to take seriously the treaties and conventions we have signed, and we've got to get the courage to live dangerously--that is to say, refuse to do "anything in the name of national security."  This is ridiculous.  We're violating rights and freedoms in the name of defending rights and freedoms.  It must stop.  But a vote for Romney or Obama will not, at this point, alter our fundamental commitments on this point.  That's a matter for Congressional elections and letterwriting campaigns.

On religious liberty, I don't know what the heck Romney actually intends to do, especially after the second debate.  His Church has a history of facing, variously, the US Army (I'm not kidding) or lawsuits for past support of polygamy and the belief that black people were excluded from the priesthood.  His father was born in Mexico because of the anti-polygamy push.  I would think that there might be some appreciation there for the Catholic Church's position on the HHS mandate.  Of course, by the logic of the Mormon teaching about the supposed Great Apostasy which, they claim, interrupted the transmission of the fullness of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the priesthood(s), the Catholic Church at its root is a tool for drawing people away from the true teachings of Jesus, so I don't know to what extent that might mitigate his appetite for a robust defense of her religious liberty.  Since the Constitution of the United States is seen as a divinely inspired document in Mormonism, though, he's likely to be a strong defender of the Bill of Rights.

I think he'll try very hard to be a good president.  I think he intends to have the best interests of the country at heart.  I think he'll try to appoint good and qualified people to positions of authority and influence--he was notorious as a Massachusetts governor for refusing to play the normal political games and thereby forcing the legislature to be on its toes.  They couldn't count on him for political favors--they had to have a real case for the things they wanted to see passed.  His insistence on being squeaky clean about reforming the Olympics, even to the point of charging the folks in charge for pizza at their gatherings, bodes well for his exercise of executive office.  I think he's a man who will take very seriously our incredibly huge financial issues, and will prioritize getting the house in order over massive increases in military spending.  I think he'll do his darndest to do a good job for this country, even if I think he's not always focused in the right direction and will need some serious pressure from the voting public to get matters like the right to life, human rights even of enemies of the United States, and full protection of religious liberty on his agenda as items of true concern.  I hope Paul Ryan would be an advocate for these things, and where he's not, I would hope that we bring pressure to make it so.

I have no illusions about Romney's professed concern for a number of the things I believe are fundamental.  I guess I would rather be governed by the Seven Habits than I would Rules for Radicals .  I think that the country's in fairly serious trouble, in large part because of her tremendous debt, and a businessman seems like the sort of person who could help fix that.  I know that however wavery Romney is on the issue of abortion, he is more pro-life than President Obama, and almost certainly more pro-religious liberty (to a certain extent by being a member of an institutional church--President Obama's tone-deafness to Catholic concerns probably stems more from a combination of a fairly secular background, a very secular party, and his own more evangelical style personal faith, which wouldn't be hampered in any way by regulations affecting hospitals and charities.  He just doesn't get the concerns of religious institutions, I think).  I think Romney, while far from being an ideal or a perfect candidate, is still a much better option than four more years of President Obama.  To vote for him would be a limiting of the bad, at this stage, and I think we could use that right now.

May we commit more fully to four years of new evangelization, fostering a culture of life, and transforming the political parties of this country from within, seeking to bring about a true culture of respect for all human rights, a deep desire to safeguard and encourage the common good, and pursue liberty and justice for all in this great nation.  May we learn again to listen to and love our brethren across the political aisle and those outside the major parties.  May we see the rise of strong movements within the parties and among the third parties to embrace the principles of social justice, to bring about better government at all levels by fostering more excellent candidates for local office, and to challenge the current system which consistently forces us to choose between meh and bleah.

A single vote in a single presidential election is a small thing in many ways.  The great thing will be the hard labor of becoming informed, defending true things, becoming holy, and transforming a culture that has gone very far astray.  Pray for me--I'll pray for you.  Then let us all commit to making our vote this year the first act in a long process of political renewal in this country.  We've been grumping about the same things for far, far too long.  It's time to get going and shake up the game.