Today, I heard Mike Huckabee on Rush Limbaugh's program desperately trying to make the case against Romney for V.P.. I was surprised Rush gave Huckabee airtime given his smear tactics during the GOP primary, his penchant for frying squirrels in a popcorn popper in his college dorm, and his really, really bad sense of humor when making jokes about Obama being shot at. Make no mistake, Huckabee has a problem with Romney's religion and has soured many evangelicals on Romney (Boston Globe on Huckabee's tactics) but not all of them.
According to Vanderbilt University political scientist, John Geer, a poll taken during the GOP primary found that 57% of conservative Evangelicals have a bias against Mormons and 26 percent of those who accuse Romney of flip-flopping also indicate that Mormonism, not flip-flopping, is their problem with Romney.
It appears to me that this election has revealed two remaining prejudices in primary voters' hearts. The Democrats clearly have a chunk of "white working class" voters (mostly in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania) and Hispanic voters who found Obama's race to be a problem for them - in other words, they're racists. The Republicans clearly have a chunk of Evangelical voters who found Romney's religion to be a problem - in other words, they're bigots.
I'll let Obama-Biden address their party's racism, but McCain needs to find a way to bring 57% of conservative Evangelicals into the 21st century.
What better way than to choose Romney to be the Vice-President?
McCain seems to relish taking principled positions that anger his party. It's yet another opportunity to demonstrate to an electorate that seems unhappy with the Republican brand that he's an independent thinker who puts country ahead of party. Romney is solidly pro-life so McCain, and Romney, just have to convince Evanglicals what they probably already know - that opposing Romney based on his religion is, well, not What Jesus Would Do and un-American to boot!
Opposition by some conservatives makes Romney the perfect choice for a maverick like John McCain.
Once you convince them it's OK to support Romney (Huckabee can help with that - if he really wants the GOP to win this fall) then voting for McCain-Romney becomes an opportunity for personal growth, much like pulling the lever for the first African-American President if you're a racist Democrat.
In any event, the country will be better off that McCain took a chance on picking a very-qualified Mormon to be Vice-President than if he accommodated the bigoted demands of some Evangelicals to pick a less-qualified, "real Christian" (non-Mormon) like Tim Pawlenty. Picking Pawlenty does not challenge our party to address one of our last remaining prejudices - religious bigotry - picking Romney does.
Having Romney serve as Vice-President in a McCain Administration sends a message loud and clear, for at least four years, that one of our founding father's wishes, that there not be a religious test for office, has come true.