This morning, Mitt Romney pitched his woo at evangelical Christians. His speech was short and as noncontroversial as a Mormon Republican presidential nominee's speech at the Nation's Number One Regressive Evangelical "Learning" Institution™ could be. He acknowledged his Mormonism without once using the word "Mormon," but by instead speaking in vague, lofty language:

"People of different faiths, like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many differences in creed and theology," Romney said. "Surely the answer is that we can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview. The best case for this is always the example of Christian men and women working and witnessing to carry God's love into every life."

This, predictably, was the biggest line of the speech:

“[T]he enduring institution of marriage” is now “topics of Democratic debate,” Romney said, before reaffirming, “Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.”

The line drew a standing ovation.

Personally, I find it funny that the executive committee chair of Liberty U's trustee board, Mark DeMoss, was forced to give advice to students in advance of Romney's speech that I would give to Liberty U students when it comes to anti-gay bigotry. Don't judge Romney because he's Mormon, DeMoss said:

DeMoss encouraged the audience to recognize the difference between "knowing about someone and knowing them,” he said, "You see, you can know about someone simply by reading about him or her. But you can only know someone by spending time with them."

Huh. This is probably the only year when someone ever preached tolerance at a Liberty University graduation. Even if he doesn't know it, DeMoss is right: I bet if those kids personally knew a gay person, they'd be less cavalier about whooping it up when someone talks about stealing rights from them.