Fifty-two years after the Houston ministers speech

The great newish online journal Religion & Politics alerted me to the fact that today is the anniversary of JFK's speech to the Houston ministers. From the R&P editors:

In 2007, Mitt Romney gave an address that was undeniably modeled on Kennedy’s—remarks delivered on similar religious issues, in the same state, but about a different faith.

True, but the differences were as notable as the similarities. It's not just the difference between Catholicism's status in U.S. culture in 1960 and Mormonism's status today, which may well be roughly comparable. Kennedy was the Democratic nominee for president when he gave his speech, while Romney was running in a (modern) Republican primary.