I think a strong case can be made for the Romney speech. Romney's faith is the big elephant in the room for a lot of primary voters. Ignoring it is no strategy for dealing with it, especially as Mike Huckabee puts personal faith in the center of the campaign with unabashed rhetoric and even television commercials proclaiming himself the Christian candidate. I don't see how Romney hurts himself by facing the faith issue. While I think it would have been better to do such a speech earlier in the year, I see little downside.
The key will be in the content of the speech. A weak speech will be a disaster. A well-argued and thoughtful speech now not only addresses the so-called "Mormon Issue," it also gives the media the thing they are always desperately looking for: a good "hook" in the narrative of the campaign. A big moment. The rise of Mike Huckabee, the fizzle of Fred Thompson, and the stumbles of Rudy Giuliani have raised the stakes in the GOP race. Thirty days out and the race is uncertain and unstable. Grabbing the media limelight now with a big move gives Romney a defining moment, which entails a certain risk, but also provides a very big opportunity.
