Posted on 09/08/2005 12:44:58 PM PDT by SirLinksalot
Mitt Romney's Evangelical Problem
Everyone wants to believe the Massachusetts governor's Mormonism won't be a problem if he runs in 2008. Think again.
By Amy Sullivan --------------------------------------------------------
Washington pundits in the throes of post-election doldrums are notoriously eager to find a fresh face to crown the "early favorite" for the next presidential campaign. Even by those standards, however, the speed with which they flocked to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been remarkable. Last December, barely a month after Bush's reelection, George Will devoted a column to Romney's potential, and a quick succession of profiles in the Weekly Standard, National Review, and The Atlantic Monthly appeared in the spring. Who could blame them? Romney has had a successful business career (he is known to most Americans as the man who saved the Salt Lake City Olympics). He comes from noble moderate Republican lineage (his father was governor of Michigan). He is attractive (the National Review sighed over his "chiseled handsomeness"). And he grabbed national headlines—and the attention of social conservatives—by standing up to the Massachusetts Supreme Court's legalization of gay marriage. Just as Democrats are always looking for a liberal nominee from a red state, Republicans dream about a candidate like Romney: a social conservative from the most cerulean of blue states who can please the base while not scaring off moderates.
There's only one problem. Romney is a Mormon, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Mormonism was never an issue when Orrin Hatch ran for president, but Hatch was never talked up with even a smidgen of the seriousness that accompanies the Massachusetts governor. Yet each Romney profile plays down the Mormon issue. In a typical treatment, under the headline "Matinee Mitt," John Miller admits in the National Review that some of Romney's Republican opponents might highlight a few of "Mormonism's doctrinal oddities," but concludes that "there is no telling how this will play out," and "it's even possible to think that Romney's Mormonism could become a hidden asset."
It's understandable that political observers want to think Romney's religion wouldn't be a problem. He's an appealing candidate with compassionate conservative allure. Moreover, we would all like to believe that a politician's religious affiliation isn't an obstacle to higher office. There's a general sense, particularly among the chattering class, that we've gotten past that. Didn't Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) run on the Democratic ticket in 2000 with no problem? Aren't there a handful of Catholic candidates among the field of potential Republican nominees for 2008?
Americans have indeed become more religiously tolerant, but the first Mormon to run for president will clearly have to change some minds. In the late 1960s, the percentage of Americans who said they would not vote for a Jewish or Catholic presidential candidate was in the double digits; by 1999, those numbers had fallen to 6 and 4 percent, respectively (roughly the same as the percentage of voters who say they wouldn't vote for a Baptist). Compare that to the 17 percent of Americans who currently say they would have qualms electing a Mormon to the White House. That number hasn't changed one whit since 1967, the year that Romney's father considered a presidential run (he abandoned the effort after making a gaffe about how the military "brainwashed" him into supporting the Vietnam War).
Some of this anti-Mormonism is a fairly fuzzy sort of bias, based mostly on rumors and unfamiliarity and the vague feeling that Mormons are kind of weird. It's a wobbly opposition that can be overcome by good public relations that defuses concerns about the religion and shifts focus to the personality of the candidate. This is how someone like Romney gets elected in a blue state like Massachusetts, where even Republicans are generally tolerant.
But moderate Republicans aren't the ones who could derail a Romney candidacy. His obstacle is the evangelical base—a voting bloc that now makes up 30 percent of the Republican electorate and that wields particular influence in primary states like South Carolina and Virginia. Just as it is hard to overestimate the importance of evangelicalism in the modern Republican Party, it is nearly impossible to overemphasize the problem evangelicals have with Mormonism. Evangelicals don't have the same vague anti-LDS prejudice that some Americans do. For them it's a doctrinal thing, based on very specific theological disputes that can't be overcome by personality or charm or even shared positions on social issues. Romney's journalistic boosters either don't understand these doctrinal issues or try to sidestep them. But ignoring them won't make them go away. To evangelicals, Mormonism isn't just another religion. It's a cult.
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I like Mitt.
I don't know too much about his politics, but his Religious beliefs would not sway my vote.
His religion isn't the issue. He can't win in the south because he is a New England liberal.
Mormons tend to get things done. Big plus in my book.
There should be no religious test, so I would not hold his non-trinatarian faith against him. My problem with Romney is he's a RINO.
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Mitt " As a Mormon, I believe marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman....and a woman....and a woman....and another woman."
>>>>
Cute, but to be serious, I think the Mormon leadership had a "revelation" over a hundred years ago which says that polygamy is disallowed ( they wanted to join the union and conveniently, the revelation came at the right time ).
And as a Mormon this is why I wouldn't vote for Romney. In my mind he doesn't even live his religion - he's going for whatever he thinks is going to get him elected. Most Mormons I know don't like him for the very reasons you stated. I think the only way he'll go anywhere is if the dems get behind him as he seems to swing more that way....
Mormon or Moron(McCain)
This Baptist will take the Mormon.
A Massachussetts conservative is still a liberal anywhere else. His Mormonism won't be the issue that dooms him in the primaries.
I doubt any of Romney's opponents would criticize because they might be seen as bigoted. That's doesn't mean it won't hurt him.
That is the "M" word that will kill any shot he has.
Here is one Mormon who hopes the GOP finds someone better than him. BTW, he would not be the first Mormon to run for president, Joseph Smith ran as an independant, but was killed before the election.
Being Mormon will tick off a very loud and very small number of Republicans (the kook fringe of the Christian conservatives) and the media will play that up to make the whole party look bad, but I'm not sure one way or the other how it would affect the end result.
You'll find this to be pretty much a non issue in most Western states (including the less urbanized parts of the West Coast states). I've had Mormon bosses and the like. It's a fact of life out here.
Although I am a "Mormon", I would have a hard time supporting Mitt Romney for President. I would vote for him over Hillary Clinton -- but I would vote for Bozo the Clown before I'd vote for Hillary Clinton.
He's a little better than your typical New England RINO, but not much. I wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole, because I don't trust him to stand up for the right to life and other key social issues.
Flip flopping on abortion is not going to help him either.
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