Romney has referred to his candidacy as a ‘Mission’. Perhaps it actually is - otherwise, Romney is an unlikely candidate:
Romney has no reason to run for President - he was not a successful governor and he has been a minor political player.
Romney has doggedly pursued the Presidential candidacy as though driven
Romney has supported his candidacy with large amounts of his personal wealth - he is not the party guy
Romney has not presented a consistent personal position on any issue - whatever will win is sufficient
Romney is by nature, and history, a moderate Progressive. His positions in the first debate were to the left of Obama. He is being forced into a Conservative slot.
So, perhaps some of you LDS and former-LDS folks can render an opinion. Could Romney have been called to a political mission?
I don’t understand this comment. The only reason you need to run for president is wanting to be president. Romney clearly wants it pretty bad given the time and expense and the political knots he’s tied himself into. He was one of the favorites in 2008 and again in 2012, and in the past he also run for the U.S. Senate in addition to his term as governor of Massachussetts. It’s not as if he’s never been interested in politics before.
Parts of the Republican establishment don’t love him for various reasons, but he’s not spending his own money this time.
That’s not the left, it’s just empty promises intended to make him sound like he’s running a centrist campaign. To return to your original topic: what would it mean if he were on a religious mission and how would we know?
No, I don’t think it makes any sense to think of this as a “missionary call.”
Who is the driving force behind Romney’s 08 and 12 candidacies? Clearly the candidate himself. He really wants this. While the institutional Mormon church would be delighted to count the Most Powerful Man in the World as a member, there are relatively few long-term benefits and substantial risks with having a Mormon President.
The Mormon church isn’t behind his candidacy. If anything, they’re trying to lay extra low for a while (their “I’m a Mormon” ad campaign notwithstanding) until this all shakes out.
A Mormon mission has a pretty narrow definition. You turn 19, you get a letter, you go to Provo for 6 months to learn to speak Swahili or Spanish or pidgin English and you go to another part of the world to knock on doors for two years. If someone is disabled they might be called to work as a clerk at the local genealogy library while living at home for two years instead, and some people are called on two year foreign retirement missions with their spouses in old age if they express an interest. It’s not the same thing as an evangelical Christian saying they feel god is calling them to build a school in Ecuador or to picket abortion clinics. It’s very official and spelled out in black and white, not just an urge or a feeling.
Could someone in the Mormon hierarchy be telling Romney he should run for president? Maybe. I’m sure they’re not against it anyway. But in the traditional sense of what a Mormon mission is, this is not it.
I was not referring to ‘Missionary Calls’. I was referring to a ‘Mission Call’. Historically the church has called members to economic, social, colonization and political missions in addition to Gospel Missions.
Which makes him exactly the same as every other guy (and gal) who runs for President of the United States (including the current incumbent).
ETA: Except maybe for Fred Thompson back in '08. IIRC, everyone was saying he didn’t really seem to actually want the job, and sure enough, he didn’t get it.
Those “missions” were intended to settle a wide territory and consisted of, “Move your family to these coordinates and build a city there.” Or, “Open a sawmill on this river.”
They were not missions like: “Obtain the hardest to get job in the world.”
Honestly, the question is ridiculous. What resources could the Mormon Church even provide that multi-multi-millionaire Romney couldn’t get for himself?
I think comparing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that era with the modern LDS church is dicey at best – the political, religious, and even internal-church environment has changed quite a bit.
ETA: Speaking in terms of details, that its, rather than in overall hierarchical organization.
The dogma, organization and rituals of LDS were all created in the 19th century. Mission Calls address a wide range of activities. They are a sub-set of obedience.
Still, almost everything you said in the OP - your reasons for thinking maybe this wasn’t Romney’s idea - was wrong. He’s run for higher office four times and put a lot of time into politics.
The Mormon church lacks the necessary vision to effectively control elections. At most, they will make suggestions to him if he were to win, but I seriously doubt they would have looked for a candidate.
Comparisons to the Mormons of old aren’t valid. This ain’t your great-great grandfather’s church.