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Rove: Why couldn't U.S. president be LDS?
The Ogden Standard-Examiner ^ | February 3, 2011 | Bryon Saxton

Posted on 02/04/2011 2:49:27 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

LAYTON -- A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can become president of the United States of America, says Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush.

"Absolutely," said Rove, who was in Layton on Thursday night for a stop-over to address a room full of fellow Republicans at the Davis Conference Center.

While he was at it, Rove, who served as the keynote speaker for the Davis County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, autographed copies of his book.

More than 400 people attended the event at a cost of $50 per person, which included dinner and a copy of Rove's book, New York Times best-seller "Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight."

The event also included a VIP reception with Rove.

Following the reception and prior to his speech, Rove took time to talk with the media, addressing the strong gains the Republican Party made in the November 2010 election in the House, Senate and with governorships across the country, and the challenges that lie ahead for any GOP presidential candidate in 2012.

Rove also shared that he would be addressing the economy, the nation's debt, health care and hope for America in his dinner speech, which was closed to the media.

"I think we are going to have a race that is up in the air, that is capable of being won by either side," Rove said of the 2012 presidential run.

He said despite the slight advantage there is to a standing incumbent, "The economy is not going to be good, and the budget is not going to be in the place the American people want it, the deficits are still going to be too high, and the taste that is still in people's mouths about what they saw in the first two years, particularly when it comes to health care, is not going to be helpful to (President Barack Obama)."

But any Republican candidate entering the field -- including former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., both members of the LDS faith -- will have their work cut out for them, said Rove.

"Anybody thinking about this is going to have challenges," Rove said.

Too much was made of Romney's LDS faith in his 2008 run for president, said Rove, who has Utah ties but is Anglican, not LDS.

The country enshrined freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights, Rove said, and what he found in looking back at articles centering around Mitt Romney's father, former Michigan governor George Romney, is that there was no mention of his LDS faith.

"This makes me queasy,"Rove said of the Times magazine coverage of Romney's religion.

Rove, who attended Olympus High School and the University of Utah, said that the whole issue of Romney's religion was "overdone."

Based on Rove's busy schedule, the Davis GOP was fortunate to have him speak at this annual event, Davis County Republican Party Chairwoman Shirley Bouwhuis said.

Rove, an adviser to President Bush from 2000 to 2007 and deputy chief of staff from 2004 to 2007, has written a candid, behind-the-scenes view of some of the country's most turbulent years in the White House, Bouwhuis said.

Bouwhuis said she was confident Rove would generate a lot of interest from local party members, especially as 2010 was a historical mid-term election for the GOP, and 2012 is shaping up to be an exciting election year, too.

Rove is a Fox News contributor and writes a weekly op-ed for The Wall Street Journal as a Newsweek columnist.


TOPICS: Utah; Issues; Parties; State and Local
KEYWORDS: 2012; backstabbercentral; backstabberromney; backstabberrove; benedictromney; canttrustromney; canttrustrove; carpetbaggerromney; dogabuserromney; fascists4romney; hyperrinoromney; jonhuntsman; karlrove; lds; massachusetts; megarinoromney; mormons; mostrinoromney; obama; rinoromney; rinos; romney; romneybigdig; romneycare; romneymarriage; shapeshifterromney; stenchofromney; tokyorove; utah
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When did Mr. Rove go to work for the one dollar magazine?
1 posted on 02/04/2011 2:49:29 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

"Go Mitt. Go Mitt. Go Mitt.
We attack the GOP's women candidates ….for you.
We support ObamaCARE …for you.
We support TARP and the DNC …for you.
For you!!!!!!"


"Rove is pushing Romney so aggressively some folks are beginning to wonder what's going on," grumbled one veteran Republican strategist."


"Rove has made no secret of his support for Romney as McCain's VP. "

2 posted on 02/04/2011 2:55:14 AM PST by Diogenesis (Si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: Al B.; Brices Crossroads; onyx; Lakeshark; sarah fan UK

He’s definitely on Romney’s payroll. Creep.


3 posted on 02/04/2011 2:56:45 AM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Not a gun-grabber though. That will never happen.


4 posted on 02/04/2011 3:03:06 AM PST by TigersEye (Who crashed the markets on 9/28/08 and why?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Would you like some whine with your cheese?


5 posted on 02/04/2011 3:09:06 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Virginia Ridgerunner
   When I saw the headline, I said "Wow!! Rove is supporting Glenn Beck for President!!"

  Then I read further and saw that he was supporting some guy from Massachusetts. Typical!!
6 posted on 02/04/2011 3:09:49 AM PST by Maurice Tift (You can't stop the signal, Mal. You can never stop the signal.)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Would you like some RINO with your vote?


7 posted on 02/04/2011 3:10:22 AM PST by rintense (The GOP elite & friends can pound sand.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

On of Bush II’s biggest failures, keeping this guy on as an adviser. I can only imagine the boatloads of bad advice that was given out.


8 posted on 02/04/2011 3:11:26 AM PST by samtheman
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Rove, who attended Olympus High School and the University of Utah, said that the whole issue of Romney's religion was "overdone."

And Romney's penchant for Socialism?

Romney's faith really isn't the issue, Mr. Rove...and you know it.

What we conservatives have a problem with is that Romney is a big intrusive government, baby murdering, freedom loathing, gun grabbing Socialist!

9 posted on 02/04/2011 3:12:05 AM PST by Semper Mark (Vlad Tepes was a piker.)
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To: Markos33
Untrustworthy serial-misogynist Rove points to strawman-LDS
to COVER-UP the real evil of his candidate.

Rove must think we are all on LSD.


10 posted on 02/04/2011 3:18:37 AM PST by Diogenesis (Si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Rove: Why couldn't U.S. president be LDS?

No one cares.

We care that the President isn't a RINO socialist who believes in socialized healthcare.

Go pound sand, Karl.

11 posted on 02/04/2011 3:26:26 AM PST by Caipirabob ( Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Most Americans know very little about the LDS.

If Willard is the nominee, the MSM will fix that.


12 posted on 02/04/2011 3:26:40 AM PST by Jim Noble (Reelect Palin 2016)
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To: Markos33
I have to respectfully disagree with you. I personally could never vote for a mormon. I have done alot of research on that religion and in my opinion it requires such a suspension of your reasoning skills to believe in it that I would never vote for a mormon. Of course there are other “religions” that I wouldn't vote for either. i.e. scientology, muslims.
13 posted on 02/04/2011 3:29:05 AM PST by armordog99
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Rove: Why couldn't U.S. president be LDS?

Sleight of hand, shilling for Mitt Romney.

That question, properly framed, would read "Why couldn't US president be an unprincipled opportunist hiding behind diversity?"

We're already living the answer to that properly framed question, Karl. If Mitt Romney had actually adhered to the tenets of his religion, he'd be far more conservative than he is, and more likely to be accepted by conservatives. He didn't and he's not, though.

Nice try. All the shrill outbursts are beginning to make sense. Most of the prominent instances have had Mittbots lurking the periphery. This is just more of the same.

14 posted on 02/04/2011 3:29:14 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

"Karl: Great job! Terrific! Now, can you do something about the Freepers?
Regards, Mitt!"


15 posted on 02/04/2011 3:39:56 AM PST by COBOL2Java (Obama is the least qualified guy in whatever room he walks into.)
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To: armordog99; All

Me I don’t care.. To me if the person preaches Conservative values regardless of their religious beliefs....


16 posted on 02/04/2011 3:54:28 AM PST by KevinDavis (If you buy a car from GM, you are supporting Obama..)
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To: armordog99

I agree with you, armordog99, that this religion requires an extra heaping helping of “suspension of reasoning skills”. But I wonder if that suspension necessarily carries over into the policy realm.

Not talking about Romney here, who is more of a socialist RINO than he is a Mormon, but thinking of those Mormons who are also good conservatives. Conservatives on the issues. Do you doubt that they are out there?

I know, there might be a difference between a “conservative Mormon” and a “conservative Mormon President”, that anyone who thinks clearly can be a conservative but not anyone can be President, but still, I can’t help wondering, despite the obvious irrationality of the religion, isn’t it possible that a good conservative president could come from its ranks?

Not arguing with you, just wondering out loud.

And one other point. Despite the zany aspects of the religion, it does preach a very strong love of America and a very strong view of American Exceptionalism.


17 posted on 02/04/2011 4:02:04 AM PST by samtheman
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why couldn’t U.S. president be LDS? ,
________________________________________________

What, another one ???

We’re not doing that good with the one we have now...


18 posted on 02/04/2011 4:07:29 AM PST by Tennessee Nana
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why couldn’t U.S. president be LDS? ,
________________________________________________

Rove oviously doesnt know the various ways one can become a Mormon, dead or alive...


19 posted on 02/04/2011 4:08:27 AM PST by Tennessee Nana
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Because all the LDS candidates we have seen so far have been RINOS?


20 posted on 02/04/2011 4:09:38 AM PST by JSDude1 (December 18, 2010 the Day the radical homosexual left declared WAR on the US Military.)
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