Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney seems to have found his stride on the primary campaign trail these days. The upcoming special double issue (for June 13 & 20, 2011) of Newsweek Magazine features a dancing Mitt Romney dressed in the traditional attire of Mormon missionaries.
The photoshopped image of Romney on the magazine's cover is in fact a spoof of the image on the poster of the critically well-received Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon." It also serves as an introduction to an article called "Mormons Rock" which is actually a very good read:
"They've conquered Broadway, talk radio, the U.S. Senate-and they may win the White House. Why Mitt Romney and 6 million Mormons have the secret to success."
So, what's all the fuss about this cover? Well some conservative bloggers think that Romney looks like a "lunatic" in the picture. Jim Geraghty at National Review Online found it "appalling." Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters asks "is this an appropriate way to introduce a serious presidential candidate to your readers?" What do you think? Do you agree that the picture is"appalling?"
Should we focus on religion this election? It's true that many Christian evangelicals won't be voting for Romney because of his religion but there are also many conservatives who will not vote for him because of a perceived record of flip-flopping on many issues.
Whatever the case may be, I think it's a great cover picture - it's catchy, it's flippant, it makes the reader want to read the the article inside the magazine. Let's all lighten up a bit - the Mormons are taking it in stride, Mitt obviously agrees to it, why sweat it?
1 comments:
Good to get this issue front-and-center now, rather than nominating him and only then asking the American people what they think about mormons.
I think the cover only feels appalling because of the over-the-top reaction to the muslim-Obama cover of the New Yorker.
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