Will Mitt Romney’s much-ballyhooed “Mormon speech” this Thursday end up de-emphasizing Mormonism? That’s the word this morning from The Los Angeles Times:

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Monday that he would not focus on his Mormon beliefs in a major speech on religion this week and instead would discuss his concern that “faith has disappeared from the public square.”
The former Massachusetts governor encouraged Americans to learn about Mormonism but said he did not see himself as a spokesman for his religion.
“There’s plenty of ways that people can learn more about my faith if they’d like to, I’m sure — a lot of websites people can. go to,” Romney told reporters as he opened a two-day New Hampshire campaign swing.

So Romney expects the evangelicals whose votes he needs to get comfortable with his faith by googling Mormonism? That strikes God-o-Meter as odd strategy, though it will withhold final judgment until hearing the speech.

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