Robin Smith would never understate the role of religion in politics. There’s Iraq, for example. To the newly elected chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party, the Mideast struggle is one of biblical proportions, tracing its roots to the story of Isaac and Ishmael in the book of Genesis.
“I think people of faith see this battle completely differently,” she said from her Nashville office this week. “It’s not a battle over resources. This is a war that puts the Christian faith in direct opposition to the Muslim faith.”
So it’s important to note that Smith carefully downplayed the significance of last week’s Republican straw poll in Iowa, where the top three finishers – Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Sam Brownback – came to the table with strong religious bona fides.
If elected, former Massachusetts governor Romney would be the first Mormon president. But his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, historically has not been considered truly Christian because of its literally unorthodox teaching about the nature of Jesus Christ.
Huckabee, the immediate past governor of Arkansas, is an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and his strong showing in Iowa has generated buzz about what had been a lackluster campaign. Pundits are asking if his candidacy is suddenly viable, perhaps the new darling of the so-called religious right, especially among those who are uncomfortable with Romney’s church background.
Brownback, the senior senator from Kansas, grew up Methodist but converted to Roman Catholicism five years ago. That’s a controversial change in a heavily Protestant part of the country, as a brief spat between Brownback and Huckabee campaign workers demonstrated just before the poll.
But religion wasn’t the deciding factor last week. Rather, Smith said, it was “the candidates who spent time on the ground and campaigned.” Answers to candidates’ prayers typically come in the form of donation checks.
“(Iowa) was a quick snapshot,” she said. “Some of the top contenders did not participate, did not invest money and did not labor.” Reading the results is like “walking into a restaurant and basing your entire opinion on a couple of entrees.”
But maybe the winners’ strong religious identities just neutralized each other this time. No one doubts that religion inevitably bubbles to the surface of today’s national campaigns.
“A person’s faith or religion can play an important role in their background,” said Gray Sasser, chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party. “When you think about something as important as electing a president, we need more than Cliff Notes on the issues or on their background.”
That makes Romney a particularly intriguing candidate. American voters might be willing to give him a chance, but they are still curious about his beliefs – and maybe a little suspicious. A Newsweek poll last month reported that 27 percent of voters would not choose a Mormon for president. In February, the Pew Research Center found that 40 percent of white evangelical Protestants, most of whom are Republicans, would be “less likely” to support a Mormon for president.
Smith thinks the scrutiny over Romney’s religion is appropriate.
“It’s a fair question,” she said. “The American people need to understand what influences the thought processes, the decision making of the next leader of the free world. I think it’s going to be an issue, and this campaign needs to address that in depth before he makes that request for votes.”
She and Sasser offer similar advice for all the presidential candidates when they turn their attention to Tennessee: When it comes to religion, don’t try to fake it.
“In the state of Tennessee, a large portion of people continue to say their prayers, thank God for the food on the table and believe in something bigger than themselves,” Smith said. “The candidate who resonates with the values of the people will be more successful.”
Tennessee voters can quickly tell if candidates are trying to use religion as a tool rather than an honest expression of beliefs, according to Sasser.
“So be honest and open about it,” he said. “Tennesseans know enough about the faith tradition that if you’re trying to manipulate it, it will never be very effective.”
First published in the Johnson City (Tenn.) Press, 18 August 2007.
