Lewis W

Is Mitt Romney, a man who excels in many ways, a misfit for America? This is part of a critique I drafted in response to Michael Brendan Dougherty’s piece at the National Review:

It didn’t take long after Mitt Romney announced his U.S. Senate bid for new digs at his personality to surface. As one critique goes, Romney is mismatched to America because it doesn’t dole out titles of nobility for excellent character like some Old World aristocracy. Rather, the American political system rewards plebian traits. So despite Romney’s being “wholesome, efficient, industrious, and faithful,” Michael Brendan Dougherty finds President Donald Trump better fits America’s bill by having a “fundamentally democratic personality and bearing.” Of all things, Dougherty supports this by noting Trump’s candor during an interview with Howard Stern after Princess Diana’s death. Stern asked the future presidential nominee if he could have “nailed” the princess. Trump gave what Dougherty called the “quintessentially democratic” answer: “I think I could have.”

Dismissing a man for his excellent character while highlighting another for his shameless vulgarity is puzzling if not outright disturbing. As tantalizing as it may be for the fire-bellied to diagnose and ship off the milquetoast Mr. Romney to a quaint aristocracy across the sea, the move is facile.

From an op-ed I wrote last election cycle:

Evangelical Christians are known for being political creatures, but not all are politically inclined. A recent CNN report indicates a portion of evangelicals keep politics at “arm’s length” and “are reluctant to fuse the sacred sphere of religion with profane politics.”

This wariness may come from supposing politics is simply the struggle for resources. But political science professor Scott Waller observes, “Politics has a kind of normative quality to it, meaning that there are better and worse ways of doing things.” Since politics seek a better way to govern, Christians should have a legitimate interest in it.

Author: Lewis W

What makes for a “democratic” personality?

Should Evangelicals Do Politics?