Romney and Kennedy: A comparative quantitative analysis
By MSS
We have been hearing a lot this week about how Mitt Romney's "religion" speech (6 December 2007) is similar in purpose to John Kennedy's speech on his religion (12 September 1960). I did a bit of comparative quantitative research. I have come to the conclusion that the only thing these two speeches have in common is their having been delivered by politicians from Massachusetts.
One might get the impression that these speeches had rather different audiences and purposes.
_______
* I.e. "Mormon" or "Catholic" and variations like -ism.
** Also "Islamist"; One of Romney's references to Islam contained the words "radical violent" as modifiers, while one of his references to Jews had "killing" right before it (coming immediately after the reference to "radical violent Islam," of course).
(Cross-posted at Fruits & Votes.)
We have been hearing a lot this week about how Mitt Romney's "religion" speech (6 December 2007) is similar in purpose to John Kennedy's speech on his religion (12 September 1960). I did a bit of comparative quantitative research. I have come to the conclusion that the only thing these two speeches have in common is their having been delivered by politicians from Massachusetts.
Word counts (Romney, Kennedy):
Total words: 2550, 1566
Own religion*: 1, 19
God: 14, 1
faith: 16, 1
religion/-ous: 40, 19
Jesus and/or Christ: 3, 0
Christian: 1, 0
Protestant: 0, 4
Jew: 2, 3
Islam/Muslim**: 4, 0
One might get the impression that these speeches had rather different audiences and purposes.
_______
* I.e. "Mormon" or "Catholic" and variations like -ism.
** Also "Islamist"; One of Romney's references to Islam contained the words "radical violent" as modifiers, while one of his references to Jews had "killing" right before it (coming immediately after the reference to "radical violent Islam," of course).
(Cross-posted at Fruits & Votes.)
Labels: 2008 election, John Kennedy, Mitt Romney, religion, religious right
posted by MSS at
5:17 PM
2 Comments:
This is awesome. Thanks, MSS.
By
Michael J.W. Stickings, at 6:59 PM
What's interesting, too, and not a little curious, is that Romney gave his speech at the Bush Sr. library in Texas. This allowed Romney to speak behind a podium with the presidential seal on it. The intention was clearly to make him look presidential, or like he had already won the election. This would also explain why the Romney campaign released photos of their man "writing" the speech -- just like the White House releases photos of the president "writing" State of the Union addresses. (See Dickerson at Slate for more on this.)
Questions: Does this mean that Bush Sr. supports Romney? Is Romney now the establishment candidate?
Regardless, it seems to me that whereas Kennedy's intention was to make his Catholicism "safe" for voters, to state definitively that he would not take orders from Rome, Romney's intention was to reach out to, and appease, the evangelical right. This would explain why he didn't delve into Mormon theology, with which many evangelicals and mainline Christians have problems. All he said is that he was a man of faith who would continue to be guided by his faith. He is, in my view, an unprincipled flip-flopper, but he made the case here that, when it comes to his religion, he is firm and consistent.
Furthermore, while he didn't explain Mormonism, he argued for the union of church and state. For him, there would no contradition, no separation, between his faith and his presidency.
In other words, very much unlike Kennedy, he is a theocrat. He may or may not have succeeded in making himself "safe" for the religious right, but his clear theocratic leanings should give the rest of us genuine cause for concern (to put is mildly).
By
Michael J.W. Stickings, at 8:00 PM
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