Walter Kirn, a former Mormon, puts Mitt's Mormonism in context:
Romney's fringy Mormonism, much like JFK's Catholicism, insures against him going too far out. Santorum, for one, may be able to delude himself that his beliefs are normal and widely shared and that policies based on them are moral givens. Romney can't afford to think that way… It's only when Mormonism's teachings accord with those of the broader religious right, as they do in the case of homosexuality, that a public figure from the faith can hazard writing them into law. That's scary enough for some folks, and it should be, but Romney the centrist won't go there, I suspect—not if he's actually elected president. As the bearer of Mormonism's long-standing yearning for mainstream modern acceptance, he'd be well advised to sit out the Culture Wars and leave them to more established bands of bigots.
But Romney has gone there – backing a federal constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality for ever; and his church was the core funder of Prop 8, to deny gays the right to civil marriage in California. He's punched every Christianist card he can. If in office, my view is that he will cede social policy to the "more established bands of bigots" who run his party. I know Walter is referring to historic Mormon moderation when engaging the public square. But that's much truer of Huntsman and Reid, rather than Romney and Hatch. It's looking at Morminism in the rear-view mirror, as opposed to the Christianist popular front (evangelicals + Benedict Catholic rump + Mormons) that a Romney presidency might entrench. Wilkinson calls Kirn's article "the most interesting meditation on the subject this campaign season":
Mr Kirn brings to our attention the possibility that it is a mistake to think that Mr Romney has struggled because of his perceived inauthenticity. Rather, Mr Romney has survived despite his Mormonism for many of the same reasons he seems a bit fake. A fully authentic Mitt Romney would be a frankly Mormon Mitt Romney, and that guy wouldn't stand a chance in a Republican primary.
The Dish 