In trying to convince him to make another presidential run, Mitt Romney’s allies are appealing to his Mormon beliefs about service and patriotism, reports The New York Times.
Write Ashley Parker and Alex Thompson:
A prominent Republican delivered a direct request to Mitt Romney not long ago: He should make another run for the presidency, not for vanity or redemption, but to answer a higher calling from his faith.
Believing that Mr. Romney, a former Mormon pastor, would be most receptive on these grounds, the Republican made the case that Mr. Romney had a duty to serve, and said Mr. Romney seemed to take his appeal under consideration.Three years ago, Mr. Romney’s tortured approach to religion—a strategy of awkward reluctance and studied avoidance that all but walled off a free-flowing discussion of his biography—helped doom his campaign. (The subject is still so sensitive that many, including the prominent Republican, would only discuss it on condition that they not be identified.)
But now as Mr. Romney mulls a new run for the White House, friends and allies said, his abiding Mormon faith is inextricably tied to sense of service and patriotism, and a facet of his life that he is determined to embrace more openly in a possible third campaign.
