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Romney wins! (Mormon of the Year)

E-mail|Link|Comments (31) Posted by Michael Paulson January 13, 2009 05:48 PM

Times & Seasons, one of the major Mormon blogs, has named former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Mormon of the Year for 2008. Not a big surprise, given his candidacy for the presidency. In fact, a colleague of mine asked who the other contenders might be, and all I could think of were Stephenie Meyer (the author of the "Twilight" series) and David Archuleta (the "American Idol" runner-up). It turns out that they, plus Romney, were three of the five candidates; the other two were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and JetBlue founder David Neeleman. Here's the explanation from Times & Seasons:

"During 2008 Romney concluded the most credible presidential campaign of any Mormon to date and dominated the U.S. national news early in the year like no single Mormon has in recent memory. He garnered a great deal of both praise and criticism, gaining him significant endorsements as well as important detractors. Remarkably, his supporters included many Evangelical Christians, which helped break down the unfortunate views of some Evangelicals toward Mormons. Also on the international scene, numerous press articles mentioned Romney’s membership in the Mormon Church, thus contributing to the image of the Church abroad.
Romney was not merely a very visible Mormon, however; his Mormonism was a major influence on the course of his campaign, in both positive and negative ways. Many called for Romney to distance himself from his religion, as JFK had done many years earlier. Instead, Romney responded by articulating the values he shares with many other Americans, which his faith supports, and by articulating the importance of all faiths in the life of the nation. Romney’s public image was inextricably tied to his Mormon beliefs, and this faith, which drove a myriad of storylines, appeared to contribute to the unease with him as a candidate, helping to derail his presidential hopes."

(Photo, by Alex Wong/Getty, shows Romney during a taping of "Meet the Press" at the NBC studios in Washington on 12/14/08.)

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31 comments so far...

I am sure there are many honest and sincere Mormons. Mitt Romney is simply not one of them.

Posted by Pete January 13, 09 07:08 PM

Mitt Romney is an upstanding, moral-valued and family centered man who is a role model for Americans and to which most all politicians should take notice.

Posted by J Spaulding January 13, 09 07:30 PM

wow Pete - glad you are "sure" there are many honest and sincere Mormons. I bet some of your best friends are blacks and Jews too.

Posted by Rachel Hill January 13, 09 07:39 PM

Hey. He won something! I can't wait to see him savage everybody's favorite Christian in 2012.

You know who I'm talking about. If the Mormons thought the backlash from the gays was bad after Prop 8, wait until they see how the Palinites treat them after Mitt stomps on her in the primaries.

Posted by Mr Republican January 13, 09 07:53 PM

When do they announce Scum Bag and Fraud of the year? It should be a clean sweep for Mitt!

Posted by Kevin Fay January 13, 09 07:55 PM

Romney was under a lot of pressure to separate himself from his church. To his credit, he never did - unlike Obama, who not only threw his preacher under the bus, but severed all his ties with his hometown church. One of the finest speeches of the 2008 campaign was Romney's speech on religion at the Bush Library in Texas. I've never heard a better explanation or defense of the role of faith in the life of our nation.

Posted by Kathy January 13, 09 08:08 PM

Darn. I was really pulling for Harry Reid.

Posted by Efren Zimbalist Jr January 13, 09 09:00 PM

When I read the headline link on the Boston.com home page, I thought it read: Romney wins! (Moron of the Year) - to which I agreed.

Posted by product19 January 13, 09 09:33 PM

Yes, I'm sorry but this guy misleads people time and again. What hat is he going to wear? He's a chameleon and what does he really stand for? I like many of his policies and beliefs but he can NOT be trusted one bit. I don't want another MBA idiot running any government agency. They do absolutely nothing. This is not a hands off dictatorship. Is this person credible? Absolutely not. His faith and their actions have some explaining. I voted for him in the past, but never again.

Posted by David January 13, 09 10:02 PM

Why is there an "Articles of Faith" section?

Should not be on a website that has real information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPAC_cGVnUg

Posted by Mooninite January 13, 09 10:36 PM

It is too bad that Mormons get a bad rap because of their association with this bigot.

Posted by sean January 13, 09 10:56 PM

Romney....and they called Kerry a Flip-Flopper!

Posted by avatar January 13, 09 10:59 PM

I shall not tell a lie, lies, and more lies--over and over again...
"In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed [boy] is king."

Posted by ALEX January 13, 09 11:36 PM

Mormons......funny people aint they!

Posted by Bill January 14, 09 08:16 AM

I'm sure this is quite an honor for him. I never knew there was such an award. And I am sure he'll treasure this as long as it is politically expedient to do so.

Posted by mhc90 January 14, 09 08:46 AM

Well-funded run, yes. Credible, no. If pandering is an Olympic sport, the Mitt, in his own vernacular, would win a "gold", instead of so many "silvers".

Posted by BYU January 14, 09 09:07 AM

It's amazing what you hypocrites will say about a mormon that you'd never say about black people.

Romney was the best candidate running in this election. Instead we got left with a Socialist President and arrogant, imbecilic VP. Madison and Adams would puke.

Posted by Doug January 14, 09 09:23 AM

Pete, I hope you and everyone else realizes that "honesty and sincerity" were NOT part of the qualifications for this recognition. Like Time's "Person of the Year," it is about the person's impact, principally in the news.

Michael Paulson, I do need to call your attention to one small error: There were a total of 26 nominees. In my post calling for nominations I did nominate the five you mentioned. But readers of Times and Seasons went on to nominate many more.
Having said that, I really appreciate the mention.

Posted by Kent Larsen January 14, 09 09:29 AM

Romney is Mormon of the year??? Were I a Mormon, I would demand a recount.

Posted by Harry January 14, 09 09:30 AM

Did Romney honestly hold ONE position that he didn't pull a complete 180 on? I'm being serious. Social policies, gun control, abortion... anything? The only good thing about Romney is that a vote for him is a vote for everything. I understand why the Mormons want to make him the face of the religion, but honestly, they could do much, much better.

Posted by J.P. January 14, 09 09:33 AM

I am surprised the morman church did not excommunicate him after failing to stop same sex marriage from happening in MA! He really was and is a wolf in sheep's clothing not ot mention a serial flip flopper...

Posted by Joe January 14, 09 10:04 AM

Mitt's nuts!

Posted by epiphany January 14, 09 10:31 AM

How come Marie Osmond wasn't the winner.

That chick lost 45lbs on the Mormon diet. That's huge.

Btw. Until 1978 it was considered immoral to mention 'black' and 'Mormon' in the same sentence. Most of you have violated that.

Posted by Jeff Heavyload January 14, 09 11:08 AM

I should also mention that the Mormon of the Year designation is NOT an award, it is NOT an honor in any way. There is no prize money or anything, we don't even notify the person selected.

This is merely a recognition of the person's impact.

Posted by Kent Larsen January 14, 09 11:46 AM

I read it quickly and thought it said "Moron of the Year"... that also may be true

Posted by Mike January 14, 09 12:12 PM

If Mormons are wealthy it says something about their IQs and their brain they are healthier than many morons whining and moaning for being poor living in the richest nation on the planet.

Posted by skmj January 14, 09 12:27 PM

Helmet Hair monthly also gave him the Lid of Steel Award.

Flip Flop digest likewise gave him the golden thong.

I've also heard that 180 digest gave him an award and took it away.

We have yet to hear from Incomplete Governors Monthly. They all quit to pursue higher ambitions

Posted by Marky January 14, 09 12:58 PM

Who was he up against, what was his margin of victory, was it a mandate vote or not. Come on people lets get this story right.

Posted by joemac22 January 14, 09 01:36 PM

I guess all the people that are posting on these page and blame Romney for being a flip-flopper or a dishonest person or an incomplete governor all voted for Deval Patrick or belong to MassEquality. That says it all...

Posted by ada January 14, 09 02:59 PM

Black, white, christian, jew, mormon, male, female, gay, straight
Seems to me that each group has produced its own liars, cheaters, theives and flip floppers.

Posted by Peter January 14, 09 04:21 PM

Times&Seasons Mormon of the Year "Mitt Romney" is indeed the best selection made. I never realized he was popular and notorious at the same time. It's about time. Mormons are actually thinking about their political leadership.

When George Romney, Mitt's father ran as a presidential candidate, he expressed misgivings, whether a Mormon can compete in the political arena with his comment about becoming politically "brainwashed" by the process. Son, Mitt tried it the other way and generated even more opprobrium.

Can a Mormon run as a Mormon or does he or she has to have all Christian credewntials?

edu

Posted by Eduard A. Erdtsieck January 14, 09 10:50 PM

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Michael Paulson covers religion for The Boston Globe. He shared in the Pulitzer Prize in 2003, won the Mike Berger, Templeton and Supple awards in 2008, and is a four-time winner of the Wilbur Award.
E-mail mpaulson@globe.com.

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