As far as your hypothetical "jihadist Muslim" "conservative" politician, that is a contradiction in terms. If he is a jihadist Muslim, he is by definition anti-American and would use the sword against this country. That's part and parcel of militant Islam.
Charles, that's rather short-sighted...especially for somebody who shepherds both the young and the spiritually immature.
You may not (do not) look to a POTUS for that kind of guidance, but as my tagline shows, the spiritually vulnerable do.
You know as well as I do that one of our nation's problems is that the ceiling of authority for too many people ends @ the govt's hand (and/or Supreme Ct).
You and I probably BOTH saw that in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, when the liberals saw only govt as their "savior." IOW, people in power & authority are almost -- Psalm 82-like -- treated as "gods."
That cultural outlook rains upon the young (& spiritually immature) as well...
You know as well as I do how grandiose and even legendary a POTUS can become in the minds of the young. (Look @ how Kennedy's reputation was for so long -- despite his mini-orgies in the White House).
Romney-as-puppet-of-a-'prophet' -- coupled with the massive PR effort to be undertaken by the Lds church -- will seek to "Mormonize" the nation.
They won't care if they "only" reach another 1.7% of the nation -- their current size. If they can double themselves from 1.7% to 3.4% -- plus put in the minds of the young and spiritually vulnerable that they should seriously consider Mormonism @ some future juncture, that's a 100% hike with seeds planted to triple and quadruple themselves.
I am frankly surprised that you look @ this only from the angle of the spiritually mature Christian leader. What if our Great Shepherd Jesus had done the same thing?