I am promoting the notion of a Romney--Huckabee Republican ticket. We could call them the Heretic and the Hypocrite.

I have said this before, but I would argue very seriously that it is absolutely impossible to be a Republican and a Christian. Jesus told us that what you say doesn't mean squat--it's about feeding the hungry and loving the unlovely. Square that with anything the Republican Party has done since 1980--or maybe 1880.

The Republican dream team would be a Romney-Huckabee ticket: the heretic and the hypocrite.

Dammit Max, you weren't supposed to tell until after the Republicans nominated him.

I would like to clarify my earlier comment:

Whether Mormons are Christians is essentially an academic argument. I do not think they qualify under any reasonable set of assumptions. I cited traditions of authority; someone else quoted the Creed that would also exclude Mormons, but the arguments are largely irrelevant. I personally suspect that none of the candidates in either party believes in God and their religions will not affect their policy decisions, but I tend to be cynical.

What is important about Romney's Mormonism is that it is one more way to attack him. Some people would take it seriously. If Democrats can peel off 5 or 10 percent of his potential voters that way, it might swing an election. Republicans have played abortion and gun control that way.

Democrats need to think about what Republicans did to the Clintons, and go and do likewise. Until Democrats are willing to try in any way they can to personally destroy Republican candidates, it is not a fair fight. Romney made a bunch of money. What kind of taxes did he pay? Why aren't Democrats trying to put people's wives in jail?

If Romney is the nominee, I will happily become an anti-Mormon religious bigot until after the election.

I have read a report that the Mormons used to castrate young males so they could not compete sexually with the patriarchs? How many "wives" did Joseph Smith finally have? Was it 21? 23? But then, we should hold those questions until we see if Romney is actually the nominee. No sense in being nasty for no good purpose.

Whether Mormons can be considered Christians seems to me to be answered in the negative. There are basically two traditions that justify calling a religion Christian: Catholics insist on bishops in the apostolic succession; Protestants insist on the primacy of Christian scripture (both Old and New Testaments). Mormons do not seem to recognize the authority of either. Calling them Christian makes as much sense as calling Voodoo cults who refer to Jesus and Mary Christian.

Politics in America is not all that complicated. The Republican Party (like the Federalists and Whigs before them) represent the richest handful of Americans. Presently, it is one percent or less. If you only represent one percent of the electorate in a democracy, you have to scam about half the voters to win an election. That is where conservatism and its counterparts come in: these are just slogans for those who have to be scammed.

Back in the American past, rich Americans were largely concerned with making money and getting rich. Thus, the emphasis on freedom, low taxes, small government, etc. Now we have enough Americans (like the Bush family) who have been rich enough, long enough, that their major concerns are low taxes on wealth and authoritarian government to protect their interests. This is actually Burke's style of conservatism: he thought the proper role of government was to protect wealth from talent.

Since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the Republican Party has done a fabulous job of screwing 90 to 95 percent of the American people to benefit the richest one percent. That's all that conservatism means: politics in the service of the wealthy.

The problem with George W. Bush is that he is simply running the country for the benefit of himself, his family and their rich friends, and it's starting to be obvious to an increasingly large group of people.

I agree that a constitutional amendment to get rid of the electoral college system or reform the system in any significant way is not going to happen.

The original system was designed by Federalists who feared the outbreak of real democracy. (See Sean Willentz's _The Rise of American Democracy_.) Limiting the franchise, or at least the impact of some votes, remains a major objective of the Republican Party.

A more realistic goal in the short run is to convince California to get rid of its ballot initiative provision. Every year or so some person with a bunch of money and a hidden agenda comes up with something out there that will cause trouble for their citizens or for the whole country. Ballot initiatives used to be a progressive measure, but no more in the era of big money politics.

Without taking a position on the question of whether God exists, it is clear that one cannot possibly be a Republican and a Christian (or good Jew for that matter).

All through the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament Gospels the standard of evil behavior is not sex, abortion, or murder; it is the rich and powerful who mistreat the poor and weak. In America, we call those people Republicans.

Democrats need to go after the fundamentalist vote by telling them that if they vote for Republicans they fail the "sheep and goats" test and are going to hell.

Democrats will continue to lose the majority of white, Southern and Border state, males with less than a college education (that's the real target group) until they have the brains and nerve to run on their only real issue: economic fairness. Republicans only represent rich people. Since 1980, white, male, working class, voters have been the most screwed group in America. Until they figure that out or somebody tells them, they will continue to vote their anger and vote for Republicans.