'Tin Man' Romney Is Mormon at Heart

Spock vs. the Tin Man? That's how Maureen Dowd sees the likely matchup between President Obama and Mitt Romney for the Oval Office: "Neither the president nor his likely challenger are bon vivant, backslapping types," she writes in the New York Times. "Both like to see themselves as pragmatists and saviors." Still, she's able to peek behind the well-coiffed Romney persona with help from The Real Romney, a book that delves into Mitt's devotion to Mormonism.

"Peek" is the word, because "some important moments for Mormons are restricted to Mormons"—even Mitt's marriage in flowing white robes was off-limits to the in-laws. But Romney reportedly hopes to bring Mormonism into the mainstream with his candidacy. And his "proudly square" Mormon persona, backed by a 42-year marriage, at least seems authentic—more so than the help-the-poor rhetoric he uses to promote his tax plan, "which would help the wealthy and hurt the poor," Dowd writes. (More Mitt Romney 2012 stories.)