Latter-Day Saint is fine.
Flip-flopping and backpedaling isn't.
boxers or briefs? or?
Romney needs a lesson in HUMILITY if he is going to succeed in national politics.
I am LDS, so Mr. Romney's religion is not a problem for me. (As I suspect it would not be for most people.) However, I have my doubts about his commitment to conservatism. If Mr. Romney runs as a "moderate" Republican, I will not vote for him.
Romney is, of course, exiting his job as Governor after an unimpressive one term (and is likely expected to move back to Utah). He has been utterly unable, despite modest attempts, to rebuild the destroyed Massachusetts State Republican Party, which was eviscerated, after a modest comeback at the end of the Dukakis era, by the horrid Weld-Cellucci-Swift regimes. The governorship is expected to effortlessly return to the Democrats.
Although it must be noted that Romney was utterly hamstrung on the job, solely because the Governorship (as long as any Republican occupies it) has been largely stripped of any authority (he is, for example, unable even to appoint a temporary successor to the U.S. Senate if Kerry or Kennedy resign or die). Romney can't really point to any credible accomplishments as a result, and really cannot make any argument that he has the "experience" required to serve as President.
His rescue of the Utah Olympics and his accomplishments in Massachusetts will make him a credible candidate.
If we are going to seek perfection, we will simply harm the country and accomplish nothing.
Time to re-bury the Donner Party.
The trouble is that much of today's anti-Mormon sentiment is found on the religious right, a constituency that looms much larger in the GOP now than it did in 1968, or than it ever has in Massachusetts. Ask a conservative Christian what he thinks of Mormonism, and there's a good chance he'll call it a "cult" or say Mormons "aren't Christian."
Yet on the issues, Mr. Romney is largely in tune with the Christian right. "I am pro-life," he says, though he's not an absolutist. He favors a return to the status quo ante Roe v. Wade, when states decided abortion policy. In 2002, recognizing that Massachusetts is an "overwhelmingly pro-choice state," he campaigned only on a promise to veto any legislation changing the state's abortion laws, including a proposal, which Ms. O'Brien endorsed, to reduce the age of parental consent to 16 from 18. The Legislature never passed that measure.
Some question whether he is antiabortion enough to satisfy his party's base. But George W. Bush has made similar nods to political reality--"I'm a realistic enough person to know that America is not ready to ban abortions," he said in 1999--and few dispute the president's pro-life credentials.
Mr. Romney is a scathing critic of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's 2003 decision imposing same-sex marriage: "We've got a liberal activist court . . . and I have now seen firsthand the perils of a court that decides to substitute its values for that of the founders." The governor has backed efforts to undo the ruling by amending the state constitution, most recently through a signature campaign. He also has enforced a 1913 law making it illegal for out-of-state couples to wed in the Bay State if they cannot legally do so back home. "It's basically kept Massachusetts from being a Las Vegas of same-sex marriage."
How would he overcome anti-Mormon prejudice if he seeks the presidency? He doesn't answer directly, but cites his experience in Massachusetts: "As people got to know me . . . they accepted me for who I am, and religious doctrines didn't make much difference to them."
In the end, there's probably not much Mr. Romney can do about the "Mormon problem" other than put his faith in the American tradition of religious pluralism. "I think our nation needs people of faith in public service," he says. "My policies in the public sector are not a mirror image of any church's doctrines. But of course the respect I have for American values flows from the faith that I have." If Mr. Romney runs for president, it may test the proposition that the religious right is an issues-based movement as opposed to a sectarian one.
I tend to agree with this statement. Make no mistake though, "The Mormon Problem" will be a problem for the Left as well. One only need to re-examine their previous attacks on Mitt during his runs for governor and the US Senate. I do believe, however, that most Conservatives are pragmatic enough that they will overcome any such single issue objections far more easily than their Liberal counterparts. Mormon or no, for the Left, the bottom line is: he's not a Democrat. That alone means Mitt is evil incarnate and, as evidenced by what Howard Dean and other leading Democrats have been saying about Republicans, they are not even remotely inclined to overcome that objection.
I couldn't care less if he is LDS. We've had a lot of good LDS politicians over the years. What bothers me is that we really don't know where he stands on the key issues.
Although he was governor, we don't know what he would have done, because the state is so Democratic he couldn't do anything.
Yes, he did a good job with the Olympics. He's smart and able. But where does he stand on the issues? It doesn't matter what position he runs from at this point, we need to see what he does in office, and so far we have nothing to go on.
What will DOOM him are the facts that 1) he's a Northeast Liberal and 2) a GUN GRABBER.
Ta-ta Mitt, we hardly knew ye.
ps: take that other NE lib with ya, Ruuuuudy.
I'm not voting for him, and it's not because of his religion.
Last thing we need is another presidential candidate from Massachusetts.
Aren't there some better options out there?
I wont be voting for this guy come primary time.
Um, that little drawing on Mitt doesn't do him justice. He's one handsome fellow, but he must be pleased with the WSJ piece. Couldn't be more glowing.
His religion will not defeat him. But his lack of moral clarity will.
Also, Romney carries a lot of baggage as Governor of Massachusetts. That his to say, he gets saddled with Massachusetts liberalism, even if he doesn't share those positions himself. He told a paper last month that if he knew he were going to run for President, he would have stayed in Michigan. That's true, if he had it have given him a better shot. And it's certainly candid for a politician to admit that. But it left Massachusetts voters scratching their heads, trying to figure out Romney's comment.
bump
I could never vote for anyone that lived in Mass. on purpose. I'm ashamed that I was in the airport there once.