The Wall Street Journal blogs (uh, since when does the WSJ know what a blog is?) are reporting that the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Bob Jones University, a major evangelical school "with a history of anti-Mormon rhetoric" is supporting Mitt Romney in the Republican primary.
Robert R. Taylor, dean of the university’s college of arts and sciences, said he believes the former Massachusetts governor is the only Republican candidate who both stands a chance of winning the White House and will reliably implement the anti-abortion, antigay marriage, pro-gun agenda of Christian conservatives.
What’s interesting here is the fact that this support is coming from a member of the religious right. One of the biggest questions about the Romney campaign is whether evangelicals will vote for his agenda and turn a blind eye to what they might see as problems with his religion (aren’t they such tolerant people?). Romney is trying to position himself far to the right of Giuliani, despite the fact that he doesn’t know what he stands for until he’s running for a given office. To be successful, however, he’ll need to convince those on the far right that his Mormonism isn’t an issue. It’ll be a tough sell, certainly, but if people like Robert Taylor are coming on board, perhaps he’s succeeding. Either way, it’ll be interesting to watch.
Evangelicals are desperate for a candidate who will pander to them, after what they see as the failure of the Bush administration to do so (largely because he didn’t nominate an outwardly crazy pro-lifer to the Supreme Court - though Roberts and Alito are pretty far to the right. Nothing satisfies these people). If they get angry enough with the nominee, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility to think many might stay home on Election Day.
Let’s assume for a second that he emerges as the winner of the GOP nomination. How long does it take him to start trying to convince voters he won’t "reliably implement" the religious right’s agenda?