Without a prayer?
Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:38:00 GMT
University expert in BBC radio debate on the place of religion in U.S. presidential race
U.S. Republican hopeful Mitt Romney - will Mormonism affect his chances?
WITH fresh U.S. presidential elections looming, the expertise of University of Huddersfield lecturer Dr Alexander Smith (pictured right) was called on for a BBC Radio 4 programme that probed the role of religion in American politics – especially in the race for the Republican Party nomination.
Dr Smith – who has conducted in-depth anthropological research among moderate Republicans in the Mid-West of America – was the sole UK-based contributor to a wide-ranging debate which included a discussion of whether the fact that ex-Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is a Mormon could hinder his campaign to reach the White House.
Also, Dr Smith’s analysis led to the conclusion that John McCain’s choice of the controversial Sarah Palin as his running mate could have cost him the Presidency in 2009, because droves of moderate Republicans turned to Barack Obama as a result.
The programme was Radio 4 series “Beyond Belief”. Dr Smith was joined by two American analysts who occupy different places on the U.S. spectrum. One was the political and religious conservative Bob Vander Plaats, head of the Family Leader pressure group, and the other was Boo Tyson from the moderate organisation Mainstream Coalition. The programme was hosted by Ernie Rea, a former Head of Religious Broadcasting for the BBC.
During the discussion, Dr Smith said that Senator McCain had had a strong following among Republican moderates – until the right wing Palin (pictured left) became the vice-presidential candidate.
“To a man and a woman, every moderate Republican I interviewed as part of my research in Kansas said that they now felt liberated to be able to vote for Obama, because they felt that the choice of Sarah Palin was such a disastrous decision, an effort to placate the religious right within the Republican ranks, “said Dr Smith.
His co-panellist Boo Tyson agreed. “There is a good chance that John McCain would be President now he had made a vice-presidential choice that didn’t make the moderate wing of his party so uncomfortable”.
When discussing the current prospects of Mitt Romney, the American contributors differed when they appraised the level of modern-day prejudice against Mormons. Dr Smith added a historical perspective – that the Republican Party had a deep-rooted problem with Mormonism that dated back to the period before the Civil War, when one of Abraham Lincoln’s priorities was to campaign against polygamy.
But if Mitt Romney returned to some of the policies he adopted while Governor of Massachusetts then there was a good prospect that he would capture the votes of people who had been moderate Republicans, said Dr Smith.
There was also a discussion of the other Republican front-runner, the much-married Newt Gingrich, a Catholic convert, and whether or not his plea for forgiveness of past transgressions would play more effectively with the electorate than Romney’s Mormonism. Dr Smith said that although Republican voters had been tolerant of George W. Bush’s lapses, the party’s voters did have a history of refusing to pardon bad behaviour.
The final question posed by “Beyond Belief” presenter Ernie Rea was whether or not it was possible for an avowed atheist to reach the White House. Boo Tyson commented that in the U.S an atheist would be unable to top the poll in an election for local dog catcher, let alone the Presidency.
Dr Smith also suspected that an atheist did not stand much of a chance in the USA. Of the current Republican hopefuls, Ron Paul was the candidate closest to being an agnostic and he was well behind in the race.
The edition of “Beyond Belief” can he heard at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01blgp2.
