By Joshua Uda
A campaign is not a solo act. Armies of advisors flank the party nominee to create a winning persona. They tell the candidate how to dress, what to say, how to say it. They even tell the candidate what to think. And they know best, because they have gathered and studied the market research and the psychological profiles of undecided voters. A candidate must be molded, shaped, and framed to energize the base, and then reshaped, and reframed to win the moderates.While this process requires a degree of misrepresentation, it is necessary to win. And so… candidates soldier on for the greater good, conforming to the demands of their handlers, knowing that once they are in office, they will be free to follow their own moral compass. Until then, they must make sacrifices, even compromise and misrepresent who they really are if necessary. The end justifies the means.
I watched with great regret as this process played out in 2008. For many years, I had followed the public service of Senator John McCain, and admired him for his independence. He was never afraid to cross the aisle and oppose his own party to do what was right for America. He was one of my heroes, and I always hoped he might someday run for president. When that day came, the man I had come to respect seemed ready to stand his ground in his trademark maverick way, discouraging extreme and inflammatory discourse from his base and holding true to the noblest aspects of his conservative values.
Sadly, as Election Day neared and it became apparent that his opponent was taking the country by storm, John McCain suddenly began to change. His words and positions drifted and began to echo the party line, even those parts that he had previously rejected. Little by little, the man before me began to vanish, and all I could see was a puppet being manipulated by campaign managers and public image consultants. No matter how they tweaked him to appeal to the masses, all I saw was someone who had compromised the one thing I admired most for a shot at the presidency. He had abandoned his true self. He lost my respect, and he lost my vote.
McCain, however, was not the only presidential hopeful to catch my attention. During the primaries, another candidate gave me even greater hope for a better America, when he stood before the nation to speak on the issue of religious freedom. The speech was so moving that even Chris Mathews commented, “We have just witnessed greatness for the first time in this campaign.” And Governor Mitt Romney deserved that praise. He had stood before the nation to speak from his heart, giving a speech that he personally wrote and that expressed who he truly is, a man of great faith, compassion, tolerance, and goodness.
As a public servant, he had a solid public record of independent thinking, sound policy, and bipartisan cooperation – much like Senator McCain. However, unlike any presidential candidate in history, Mitt Romney also had a secret and deeply personal record of sincere compassion, astounding generosity, and humble service to all those around him. I had great hopes for Romney, but it seemed that before his campaign could even begin, he was closing the book and bowing out for the sake of the party.
It’s been a long time since then, and much has changed… but a few days ago, that man went before the nation as the Republican nominee to debate the President of the United States. For over a year, I have watched him campaign across America, but not as the candidate that caught my interest four years ago.
As in 2008, the nominee had been subjected to an extreme Washington makeover. Every aspect of the man, from his clothes to his words, was being carefully selected for him. But most notably absent were his personal values of Christian kindness, respect and compassion, his historic moderation, and his critical thinking. I witnessed a man that many characterized as a heartless bully, an arrogant and reckless war monger, a greedy and condescending aristocrat. In debates one and two, he was visually aggravated as he acquiesced to the demands of his campaign advisors to contend aggressively against the president, and at the end of the second debate, he could not even bring himself to look at his opponent, much less shake his hand. His entire countenance was full of darkness.
Like everyone else, I expected more of the same in the final debate, but something had changed since the week before. This time, Romney was pleasant, polite, and respectful from his first words to his last. He avoided contention throughout the debate, refusing to attack or even counter when attacked, and backed off meekly when confronted with misrepresentations of fact. He gave the president praise for the things he had done right, and honestly expressed agreement with policies that had worked well. Most notably, he deviated from his talking points, abandoning the saber rattling party line expressed so aggressively on his own campaign website, instead speaking of his hopes and aspirations for peace.
And so ended the final debate… with conservatives gawking at their champion for going like a lamb to the slaughter, and liberals mocking yet another astounding flip-flop by a candidate who has struggled to find his political identity.
But that is not what I saw.
In an obscure moment of post-debate punditry, one commentator mentioned that he had called a Romney campaign strategist during the debate to inquire as to the sudden and unexpected change of strategy. The strategist answered with frustration, “It was all Romney’s idea. He insisted that he do it his own way.”
His own way…
In that moment, I saw in Romney a man who had been besieged by stakeholders, each demanding that he represent their interests and ideals, each demanding that he play the game right, the way he had been coached, railing against railing, contending with pride and anger, refusing to give ground or to find common ground. I saw a man who had caved to the demands of the world around him, and a man who deeply regretted it because, despite his success and notable gains… their advice went contrary to everything he stood for and against everything he aspired to be.
I saw a man who, at some point after that second debate, recognized the spirit of contention, looked deep into his heart, and reflected on his own way, on the one and only way he had ever known and had always strived to follow.
"I am the way, the truth, and the light. I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
According to the polls, Romney lost the debate. Republicans were quick to criticize him for not going for the jugular, for not attacking and counterattacking, for not proudly boasting of American strength… but they will still vote for Romney, no matter how flawed his performance.
As for me… a staunch and vocal Obama supporter… his performance was perfect.
And despite his earlier failings… his repentance and his courageous rejection of contention, not while on the ropes, but with incredible forward momentum and the goal in sight, risking everything… this example of Christian meekness… brought me to shame, and made me reflect on my own failure to walk in the path of Christ in all things… even in politics.
I want a president who will seek peace in the world. Both candidates claimed that night to want peace. But no argument, no matter how perfectly framed, no matter how eloquently delivered, or how loudly proclaimed could ever say more than the humble and heroic choice of a true Christian to stand as a witness of Christ at all times, in all things, and in all places, even if it be unto death.
Some may say that Romney threw the election that night and committed political suicide by failing to contend and by performing such an obvious about face… but I am convinced that he faced that prospect knowingly, determined to no longer be led by anyone but the King of Kings.
As he stayed after the debate to warmly converse with the President and First Lady, I saw a different look on Governor Romney’s face than I had seen a week earlier, not the personal disappointment and shame of compromise nor the lingering fire of contention, but the deepest and most serene peace that comes only from the Spirit of Truth as it witnesses to your soul that the path you have chosen is the path of Christ, the Son of God. It was the smile I have seen on the faces of Bishops and Stake Presidents as they warmly greet those in their congregations with unconditional love.
I could see then that Brother Romney had the peace of knowing that whether he would win or lose the presidential election, he had taken one step closer to making his calling and election sure. In that moment, he may have lost the debate, but he won my vote. He is the best of us, and I would be honored to have him as my president.
He that seeketh his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
