“For without reservation. I can ‘solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution… so help me God.’” It was nearly 50 years ago when a presidential nominee from Massachusetts uttered those words, at the end of a speech meant to assuage the fears of many people that his religious views would dictate his decisions to the detriment of the country. It would seem that this was largely successful, because, on January 20th, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was sworn into one of the most powerful elected positions on the face of the earth. Little surprise, then, that when Willard “Mitt” Romney, another member of a religion with less than implicit public trust, decided that he wanted to run for that very same job, he chose to give a very similar speech. However, Romney would, mere months later, suspend his campaign and remove himself from the race. Why would Romney’s campaign fail where Kennedy’s succeeded? Where, in the text and the timing of his message, did Romney go wrong?

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