Posted on 12/17/2005 8:39:05 AM PST by Mr. Blonde
HE MADE millions as a businessman, saved the scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Olympics, appeals to social conservatives, is liked by moderates, boasts chiselled good looks and has been a successful Republican governor in one of America’s most liberal states. In Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts Governor who all but threw his hat into the 2008 presidential race yesterday, Republicans have the almost perfect candidate. Except for one potential problem: Mr Romney is a Mormon.
After announcing that he would not be seeking a second term as Massachusetts governor, a widely anticipated move that clears the way for a 2008 White House bid, Mr Romney implicitly posed a fascinating political question: can a Mormon win enough votes to become President of the United States?
Mr Romney, whom analysts on both sides of the political divide say will be a serious contender in 2008, was elected governor of Massachusetts — one of the bluest of Democrat blue states — as a social moderate. In the past year, however, he has changed his stance on social issues important to religious conservatives, the base of the Republican Party that wields enormous influence in the Republican primary race. Mr Romney once said that abortion should be “safe and legal”, but now opposes it. He denounced the decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court to legalise gay marriage. Calling himself a “red speck in a blue state”, he has emphasised socially conservative positions on the death penalty, stem-cell research and birth control.
But Manuel Miranda, head of the Third Branch Conference, an alliance of conservative groups, said that many evangelicals view Mormonism — the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — as a cult. Mr Miranda said that in 2000 he worked for Orrin Hatch, the Utah senator and a Mormon, during his unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination. “Hatch had a poll done. He found that over 60 per cent of Americans would not vote for a Mormon.”
Richard Cizik, of the National Association of Evangelicals, said that Mormons were not Christians, and that profound doctrinal divisions would shape reactions to Mr Romney as a candidate for the White House. The view among evangelicals might change if Mr Romney’s main opponent is Rudy Giuliani, the former New York Mayor, who is socially moderate and supports abortion.
Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, believes that Mr Romney’s religion will not be a significant issue. His biggest problem, Mr Luntz said, is that he comes from Massachusetts. Although he balanced the state’s budget, lowered taxes and improved education, “the last time Massachusetts produced a Republican candidate was never”.
Mr Romney may also face the charge of being a “flip-flopper” — an accusation that did so much damage to the last presidential candidate from Massachusetts with impossibly thick hair: John Kerry.
The last president to come from Massachusetts was John Kennedy, who successfully overcame concerns about being the first Roman Catholic in the White House.
Mr Romney can also take encouragement from the experience of his Mormon father, George Romney, who was Governor of Michigan. His 1968 presidential bid imploded after he said that he had been “brainwashed” into supporting the Vietnam War. “But until then,” Steve Hess, of the Brookings Institution, said, “there was no question he could have been elected.”
Maybe if he runs against a Catholic
I don't care that he's a Mormon. I do care that he's a liberal.
A Jew as President would be a problem for many reasons.
Fact is, Romney is a smart, decisive, articulate, level-headed, practical-minded businessman who has repeatedly shown exceptional ability and talent in the executive arena.
It is his social conservatism that is suspect, even among Mormons (like me) who might otherwise support him. My lingering doubts about him trace to his support of gays serving as scoutmasters. Maybe he's reconsidered that position and come around to a socially conservative point of view. But I find the fact that he was ever open to the idea to be troubling.
"In Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts Governor who all but threw his hat into the 2008 presidential race yesterday, Republicans have the almost perfect candidate. Except for one potential problem: Mr Romney is a Mormon."
I didn't know he was a Mormon, nobody ever mentioned it to me in all our discussions. What a positive comment about the conservative community that we don't dwell on what brand of Christian a person is as long as positions are sound.
And if his positions are not sound then his stated religion is not a free pass.
Only away from polygamy (although practiced by a significant minority of offshoots). Everything else is adhered to, including the Book of Mormon. Enough fodder in there to shoot down any candidacy. Other 'unique' practices includes baptizing everyone into their religion, the living and the dead, whether you wanted it or not. Been some tremendous controversy in recent years over the Mormons doing this to Jewish holocaust victims. Throw in the special undergarments, and other oddities, and a Romney candidacy is DOA.
I'd first like to know mr ronmey's position on the wearing of magical underpants.
Anyone who would base the decision on his religion is doing so against the letter and the spirit of our Constitution (which explicitly forbids a religious test for office).
Bingo. It also is a symptom of the "No Responsibility" culture in which we live. Why, it couldn't possibly be because of their policies!
Your response is actually the one I believe the author of the article was looking for. By using the 'cult' card, the intention seems to be divide and conquer. The author is painting all Christians to be inflexible and incapable of separating their religious views from their political ones. The Republican party is a lot more accomodating and accepting, and is not a bunch of religious fanatics unlike what the press would have you believe.
Why is it so heinous to think that Christ could travel to the Americas and preach to the Native Americans? He is God after all. I agree with South Park at the end of their Mormon episode. If something helps people lead better lives and makes them happy without hurting you, why is it such a problem?
The part where they did "Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.?"
Not if he's a "RINO" and a Mormon.
If a Jewish candidate were the most qualified and had a record of upholding principles and values consistent with conservativism, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd vote for him.
And it wasn't the Jews who murdered Christ, it was everyone. I don't buy into that scapegoating crap.
Just so Americans are not ready to elect a woman from Park Ridge, Illinois as its President.
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