WASHINGTON A prominent Republican delivered a direct request to Mitt Romney not long ago: He should make a third run for the presidency, not for vanity or redemption, but to answer a higher calling from his faith.
Believing that Mr. Romney, a former Mormon pastor, would be most receptive on these grounds, the Republican made the case that Mr. Romney had a duty to serve, and said Mr. Romney seemed to take his appeal under consideration.
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But now as Mr. Romney mulls a new run for the White House, friends and allies said, his abiding Mormon faith is inextricably tied to his sense of service and patriotism, and a facet of his life that he is determined to embrace more openly in a possible third campaign.
Kirk Jowers, a Mormon family friend who lives in Utah and chaired Mr. Romneys leadership PAC, said that Mr. Romneys contemplation of a third bid is motivated by an almost devout belief that he needs to do something for this country.
But this time, Mr. Jowers said, Mr. Romney would treat his religion differently. In 2008, Romney risked being a caricature of the Mormon candidate, he said. Now everyone seems to know everything about him, and that will be very liberating for him to talk about his faith.
Mr. Romneys faith was complicated by the fact that during his 2012 run, his team was reluctant to let him mention his religion at all, creating a vacuum that hid a side of him from voters and allowed it to be filled with Democratic attack ads. The 2014 Netflix Mitt documentary from filmmaker Greg Whiteley, a Mormon offered an appealing, behind-the-scenes look at Mr. Romney as a man of faith and family. Many in his inner circle said that if he runs again, this is the version of Mitt Romney that they would present to the country.
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