Posted on 10/05/2011 8:05:15 AM PDT by Colofornian
After Rick Perry’s wobbly performance shifted some momentum back to Mitt Romney, conservatives began another round of speculation about his appeal in the early-primary states. It seems that his religious affiliation remains a serious problem for him.
USA Today reported on latest Gallup poll question:
Although three of four Americans say they would support a presidential candidate who is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Gallup Poll finds that 22% say they would not.
That figure has not changed much since Gallup started measuring opinion on this subject in 1967. One difference comes by party: While 27% of Democrats say they would not support a Mormon for president, that figure is 20% for Republicans.
Those rates may not sound like much, but they could tip a close election — and are likely to be somewhat understated because some poll respondents would be reluctant to admit to anti-Mormon bias. Another recent survey by pollster Gary Lawrence, himself a Mormon, confirmed the bias, but Lawrence offered a more positive spin:
Lawrence’s poll also asked voters to what extent they would consider voting for a person of a specific religion. Five times as many voters would never consider voting for a Mormon (20%) as compared to a Catholic or a Baptist (4%). As for support, 50% would definitely consider a Catholic and 47% a Baptist, but only 30% would definitely consider a Mormon.
However, while such results have been touted as an uphill battle for Mormons running for office, other questions demonstrate these generic measures may not be that important.
“If religion played a big role in the vote decision, more people could correctly identify candidates’ religions,” Lawrence said. “While 85% of voters have heard of Mitt Romney, only 41% know he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka Mormon, despite considerable publicity. Only 11% and 6% respectively know that Jon Huntsman, Jr. and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are also Mormons.”
Similarly, the survey found that 7% of voters correctly identify Michelle Bachman’s evangelical Lutheranism, and merely 1% know Rick Perry is a Methodist. Further confusion: 17% still think Barack Obama is a Muslim.
“Those aren’t numbers that suggest passionate interest,” Lawrence said.
Perhaps, but by Election Day a significant majority of voters will know Romney is a Mormon. I don’t think that should matter one bit. But it might.
Romney’s problem is not religion.
It is that he is NOT a conservative and that he is basically a Washington insider type. We ain’t voting for that.....
That's true but the Mormon history has so much that hasn't been brought up to the national attention that it would really cripple him. The GOP is living in La La Land if they don't think the left will exploit that. And because there is historical evidence, the public will fold to the left.
What's stunning and unfair is that Obama has been to Wright's church for years and the MSM ignored most of it but you know if Romney gets in, it will be nasty.
So that means if a Scientologist runs for POTUS, supposed Thetans, the Planet Venus, and L. Ron Hubbard are all off-limits for discussion and weighing of that candidate?...just 'cause JFK was Roman Catholic?
Really?
See Similarities between Mormonism and Scientology
I mean, L. Ron Hubbard could have easily substituted Mormonism's Kolob for Venus in his religion.
Oh, and if you want to know what a "Thetan" is, here:
According to Scientology, when a person dies — or, in Scientology terms, when a thetan abandons its physical body — they go to a "landing station" on the planet Venus, where the thetan is re-implanted and told lies about its past life and its next life. The Venusians take the thetan, "capsule" it, and send it back to Earth to be dumped into the ocean off the coast of California. Source: Thetan (Wikipedia)
Seems to me that, per the Mormon myth narrative, when when an earthling is becoming "encapsuled" they leave from a "launching station" on the planet Kolob, where the Mormon spirit is implanted inside a human body, and once born with a Mormon family, the Mormon is told lies about its past life and its next life. The Mormon gods take the Mormon, "capsule" it in that body, and send it to Earth to be dumped at age 8 into the Mormon baptismal founts off of many international coasts.
Mormonism's equivalent to the Scientologist's "Thetan" is the so-called "pre-existence."
Just like many TV shows & movies, which use retread ideas like Hawaii 5-0, etc., the demons often only had to switch vocab words while using many similar themes in new religion creation.
According to the article at least 20% of the population cares, so you stating “nobody cares” is not correct.
Romney’s problem is not a religion problem!!!! This is B.S.!!! His problem is he is a RINO,he’s an establishment Republican, he sold out on American ideals for health care in Massachusetts, and he looks plastic!!!!
Really? Did you read the article? Do you ignore the polling data?
From a socio-political perspective, when only...
...1.5 of 5 voters will seriously consider you as a candidate
-- and that only 2 in 5 right now even know that you're a Mormon...
...and the other 3 in 5 will find out in a 2012 MSM blitz...
...then may I respectfully ask you "his religion is not a problem" posters to begin removing your blinders?
Just because it's not a problem for you doesn't mean you represent the "out-there" undecided voter.
Candidate viability must be raised as an issue or the RINOs will permanently ruin the GOP!
...and Milts own father Jorge was born in Mexico so his grandpa could have his harem in peace in Mexico.
The article is just an attempt to steer objections to Romney into the religion corner. He has even cultivated “Evangelicals for Mitt” in an attempt to address those issues. But conservative Americans who look for smaller government and common sense solutions reject Romney’s politics and policies. He also has that “entitled” attitude which particularly now is a real turn-off.
Hmmm. Tough call on this one. While taking no position on particular beliefs, I do think that IF he is nominated and WHEN some of those beliefs are brought to the fore that it is going to turn a sizable number of “fence sitters” off from voting for him.
Me? I won’t vote for him for many a non-religion reason. I’ll vote Third Party.
And THERE you have it FReepers.
Harry Reid talks about having grown up in a whore house.
Who KNEW he was a Mormon.
Does Reid use his religion or the brothel for excuses?
I think not.
Does Milt? Every chance he can
though usually through his paid intermediates
hiding under his skirt.
Mitt Mormony is Romin??
I think there is something to the argument that yeah, a candidate might be the best thing ever, exept he believes the Earth isn’t round, it’s burrito shaped (bloom county reference).
I don’t think LDS rises to that level yet for me, but what if there are two candidates, both equally conservative, one LDS? I can see it becoming a factor I reckon. What else are you supposed to do, flip a coin?
Freegards
You're right.
As a point of history, Romney has two polygamist great-grandfathers.
Miles Park Romney had five wives. He married the fifth, Emily Henrietta Eyring, after the 1890 manifesto. Polygamy was illegal in Mexico, by the way.
Another of Romney's great-grandfathers, Helaman Pratt, had three wives.
Romney's didn't get to choose either of those great-grandfathers. However, I've never heard him disavow polygamy, when both great-fathers practiced polygamy illegally in Mexico after the 1890 Manifesto, and one of them took an additional wife after 1890.
Tell us. Why would NRO want to do that? As Diogenesis stated in post #5, NRO has long been in the Romney camp. One of their writers, Lopez, frequently pimped Romney in '07.
It seems to me that it’s not really his problem, as much as it is those that can’t accept his beliefs.
What would be said in your corner of the room, if a leading candidate had the same socio-political beliefs as you?...and the other corner was saying what you are, now?
I’m totally indifferent to Romney’s alleged faith. Having known many Mormons who would be vastly better than Bush, Clinton, Romney, Obama, McCain, Gore, Kerry, or any of our other choices since Ronald Reagan, I would be thrilled to have the right Mormon in the White House. My problem with Romney is his values. He’s so dishonest and inconsistent about what he believes that it’s hard to be sure if he’s borderline socialist or a full-fledged socialist, but either way he’s not someone I can support. Mormonism? Not even on the radar screen.
In a contest against Barack Obama, Romney is somewhat inoculated against ancestral polygamy issues by the fact that there is some evidence that Obama’s own father was a polygamist. The Mormon policy of denying priesthood to black men pre-1978 is a likely bigger problem, especially against a black opponent. Still, it’s probably not a knockout punch, because it’s hard for the democrats to claim the moral high ground on this when so recently they stood by in silence for several years conveniently ignoring the racist (KKK) past of Senator Robert Byrd.
Maybe he would be smart enough to go back to the drawing board and find a candidate that gets his base excited instead of has 22% to sit at home on their collective behinds because the party heads are too stupid to learn from history what wins presidential elections in landslides for them.
Maybe
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