The following is a commentary from the Truth and Hope Report Weekend update by Democratic Political Dave Screwtape.

This week’s report is directed especially to the media. The odds are fairly high that Mitt Romney will not be the Republican nominee. The fact that he has done 180s on so many conservative issues, while trying to run to the right (thus alienating moderates) adds up to a formula for defeat.

However, our media allies would do well to ignore this and focus on only one criticism of Romney: His Mormonism. Between now and the primaries, large amounts of face time should be given to those who argue that point, to the exclusion of those who merely state that Romney should not be the nominee because of instability on the issues.

Now, should Romney get to be the nominee, you’ll want to magnify these voices and create the allusion that Evangelicals would rather have the Democrat than a Mormon. Be sure and emphasize the Democratic nominee’s deeply held religious faith, even if you have to ignore inconvenient facts such as bi-annual church attendance. However, in the more likely event that he doesn’t win, there’s a great deal of good that can be done.

We must re-adjust the focus of the religious right. When Religious Conservatives focus on things such as developing a coherent worldview that lines up with their faith or the historic position of their faith on social issues of the day, we don’t do well. However, there are two focuses which will insure our victory.

First, focus on divisive religious issues. In a greatly underreported development, social concerns over issues like abortion, religion in society, and gay marriage have brought together longtime religious rivals including Catholic Priests, Evangelical Pastors, old school Mainline Protestants, Orthodox Jews, and even Mormons. They may think the others are theologically off-base, but they’ll put aside their disagreements for the greater good and pursue theological issues in other venues. This dangerous era of good feelings must end for the good of our party.

Our goal must be to bring the theological disagreements into the political sphere. This is where knowing your religions will come in handy. Should a member of the local Assembly of God announce for Congress, ask him what he thinks of speaking in tongues. If his family has been Pentecostal for years, do some research and see if they were tied to any fringe movements that did snake handling and demand he justify their actions. The frank answers to these questions will absolutely horrify Baptists, and mainline Protestants.

Then if a Baptist runs, ask him whether he thinks Catholics will go to Hell. Force Catholic politicians to defend the Pope on Birth Control and the real presence of Christ in Communion.

This will have marvelous effects. First, it will create fighting among the religious right. Second, if these stories are played right, you’ll succeed in scaring many voters. Most Americans are utterly ignorant on religious matters, so what would not shock an informed student of religion can be sensationalized and made to sound very scary to your average American.

Third, many people who may be sympathetic to Religious Right concerns will sense the utter un-American standard of judging someone on a theological litmus test and realize the need for “less religion in politics.” Fourth, you’ll have less religious right members entering politics (as people don’t run for office to be subject to an inquisition about their faith,) thus leaving less true believers among the political class to rally the religious right.

At the same time, it’s important to portray our candidates as people of faith. Get religious conservatives to focus on the religiosity of the candidate and have ministers talk about how “compassionate and thoughtful they are.” For our candidates, it would be helpful if they had a genuine religious experience. If not, fake it.

Regardless, divide and conquer should be our watchword with the religious right and Mitt Romney’s campaign offers us the perfect opportunity to begin the process.

The Screwtape Report is written by Adam Graham. The Screwtape Report is written from a Democratic perspective by a conservative in order to reveal Democratic strategy and thinking.