How Romney Decided to Talk About Mormonism

McKay Coppins: “Since Romney announced his second presidential campaign 15 months ago, his strategy in dealing with questions about his Mormon faith could be boiled down to three steps: duck, dodge, and weave. But the past two weeks, the candidate and his team of advisers have made a dramatic about-face in their approach to the religion question… an unexpected series of moves that comprise, as one campaign adviser conceded, ‘a total 180.'”

“The official explanation for the sudden shift in strategy is that the campaign was always waiting for Tampa — where they would have tight control over the choreography and the narrative — to start telling Mitt’s Mormon story… But the decision to start owning his religion on the campaign trail was more complicated — and personal — than a mere convention course correction.”

Ross Douthat: “One useful way to think about Mormon culture is to envision an outpost
of old-fashioned Yankees dropped down in the Mountain West.”