On Romney's Mormonism

Mitt Romney is incredibly lucky in his enemies. Over the weekend a pastor who introduced Rick Perry at the Value Voters Summit then went outside and spoke to reporters, stating the Mitt Romney was "not a Christian" and that Mormonism was "a cult". The thought is held by many in the evangelical community but is rarely voiced in public anymore, lest one appear intolerant.

Which is exactly what happened. Romney's Mormonism has always been a point of weakness for him, but here Perry's bumbling presented him not only a chance to address it, but to defend it against a bigot. And not just any bigot, but a bigot that had just finished introducing his biggest rival.

Romney has pasted "intolerant" onto Rick Perry and managed to address his controversial faith all in one maneuver, setting him up for the debates this week where Romney will undoubtedly try to crush Perry's chances altogether. For his part, Perry was weakly heard to denounce the pastor, with an air that he was unaware of it and confused by it. He has been beset by weeks of bad bounces and mistakes on his part. He has one last chance to break out in the debates this week and he is hardly up to the task. Slow, arrogant, and spontaneous he has had none of Romney's luck and may watch his chances wash down the drain this week. A charismatic Cain, even if Cain blows everything else, will doom Perry, who has had none of Romney's luck in his enemies.