I believe Mitt is more removed than that...I believe Miles Park Romney, who towed his 4 wives & 30 kids to Mexico in 1885 when fed marshals were starting to go after bigamists, is Mitt's great-grandfather.
So I disagree with your assessment there.
There is also the racial issue. He has spoken to this in the past, saying that when he was a boy or a young man (I don’t recall how he characterized his age), his family was thankful that the special limitations for black people were lifted by the President of the Mormon Church. O.K., but does expressing this recollection go far enough? Did he think the Mormon Church was wrong in its limitations on black people? Or, did he and does he think that black people used to be inferior to white people? Again, it would creep me out to think that the President of the United States was raised in a church that taught that any race was superior or inferior to another. The Protestant denominations that used to teach such things have apologized for this sin. Maybe the Mormons have. Mitt will have to tell us about this.
Good Qs. One thing about "apogogizing" for his sin is that Lds have numerous racist verses in both the Book of Mormon & another sacred book, The Book of Abraham. (Kind of hard for them to "apologize" about their so-called "good books").
I'll give you specific references in another post.
As for one church condemning another, yes, the Mormons describe all Christians as apostate. That is a problem for Romney. Does he agree with this teaching of the Mormon Church? Even if he is a live and let live kind of guy, it is still creepy to think any person in the position of President of the United States thinks the majority of Americans are apostates. Can Romney say that the Mormon Church creeps him out with this doctrine.
Yes, not very "inspiring" for Christians to vote for somebody who privately deems them as "corrupt" apostates who embrace abominations for their creeds.
And LDS historian Todd Compton would agree with you.
Compton has a 'work in progress' on his geocities page titled Mitt Romeny's Polygamous Heritage in which addresses what he terms 'confusion' and 'factual mistakes' about Romey's polygamous heritage.
Compton's footnoted research indicates that Romey is the product of two prominent polygamist great-grandparents, Miles Park Romney and Helaman Pratt. Romney's grandparents do not appear to have been polygamists.
For the benefit of LDS and non-LDS readers, you should note before reading Dr. Compton's work that although he is a 'faith-promoting' historian, he is not a strict one.
For example, Dr. Compton cites Fanny Alger as "one of Joseph Smith's earliest plural wives" in his award-winning book, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (the Smith/Alger relationship is discussed on pages 25-42 and the quote comes from page 25), but the LDS Church does not recognize Fanny Alger as a plural wife of Joseph Smith.
The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR) also recognizes (and here) the 1833 marriage of Joseph Smith and Fanny Alger.
FAIR has a love/hate relationship with Todd Compton. FAIR cites Dr. Compton favorably on at least one issue regarding polygamy but also cautions against reading him in the same footnote, citing reviews that say he does not bring a "faithful" view to all of his writing. If you wish sources on FAIR's simultaneous citing and criticism of Dr. Compton, please contact me.