Romney is a political novelty, just as JFK was during his run for the presidency. Because this is the case, he will naturally face a lot of questions about whether he speaks for himself or Salt Lake (there is a perception that we are an authoritarian church to some, and for others we are just an unknown).
This little tempest in a teapot hurts Romney a bit with a few key portions of potoential primary voters, namely evangelicals. If anyone should be upset it should be Romney, with the incompetence of the people that allowed for even the vaguest appearance of being beholden to the church.
So, the ineptitude of the BYU administrators, who should obviously know better is an issue, as is the conduct of the political consultant. Anybody worth his salt knows that you do not go through official channels. The same thing could have been accomplished easily without the rigamarole, and the actions of were doubly stupid when one realizes that the Romney campaign had (and still has) the support for the taking, but to know that the link has to be attenuated or it will appear to close to a skeptical public.
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