USAToday: "Will Mormon Faith Hurt [Mitt]?"

[_Rollo Tomasi]

He says the oath would be his HIGHEST PROMISE. You should be satisfied with that.

I'm not. Frankly, I don't believe him (what with my knowing how explicit the other oath is). Ergo, I think he should explain why he thinks his presidential oath will Trump his temple oath.

[_Jason Bourne]

If Mitty becomes President the books are then public they become open to scrunity Right???

Why is that?

I know MANY people that would call for the books to become PUBLIC RECORD so ARE you that DUMB Jason????
YEAH .........

Personally I would like the LDS Church to make public its financial records. However, I see no connection with this issue and Romney.

You Jason must not have one of those charge cards or live one of those lifestyles that is paid for from tithe because you are not a hard CORE Mormon that would LOSE more than you would gain if MITTY became President...

Who do you think have Mormon Charge Cards. What are you ranting about? I have seem one unsubstantiated claim here the GAs have unlimited use of some charge card. I am skeptical though.

I know you are not living in UTAH right now....

That is about all that you have correct here.

And you do not know a thing about politics that much is obivious...

This is rich coming from you.

.Watch HARDBALL with Chris Matthews.. Tim Matthews. Tucker Carlson....all of these are on CNBC...

I have watched both these shows.

no not Watch FOX....FOX is misleading and does not give a balanced view of the world of politics.....

Fox is the only channel that actually routinely gives time to both sides though I agree it does slant conservative which is nice since all the other news channels tilt the other way. Interestingly FOX counties to lead in the ratings.

I love politics I know politics. So does Rollo, and so does Beastie....

So do I. But I am sure that since I am less of a liberal that you will attempt to marginalize my political views, which is typical of many liberals.

Remember I do not like when MEN call me dumb...Wellllll

Then stop acting dumb. You act dumb in a lot of what you post. My bet is you are not really this dumb.

I am Dumb like a FOX if you understand that you will understand that I am not DUMB.............

Last I checked that is "clever as a fox."

FAR FAR FROM DUMB, but you are slowly sliding closer towards dumb with your posts dear man.....Then again you keep on posting and I will be DUMB LIKE A FOX........LOVE YA

Whatever.

[_Jason Bourne]

He says the oath would be his HIGHEST PROMISE. You should be satisfied with that.

I'm not. Frankly, I don't believe him (what with my knowing how explicit the other oath is). Ergo, I think he should explain why he thinks his presidential oath will Trump his temple oath.

Well my guess is you are not going to get more then this so if it is not enough then I guess Mitt will not get your support. Me thinks you are making too much of this though.

[_Mephitus]

i guess the question that arises is to which oath that will hold more power to him. An oath of honor to ones country, or a death oath of allegience to ones religious leader.

Some would feel that the oaths might be in conflict in some way.(personaly, i don't like what he supports, and so wouldn't vote for him anyway) I know there is the tennant to follow the laws of the land, but when you make the laws, where then does that tennant then stand? It might be one thing to dissagree with something that might come from the leadership of the church. But outright action against church teachings on some things...i don't know. i honestly don't.

[_Mary]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 392495.ece

Popular conceptions about the Mormons do not help Mr Romney or his fellow believers either. Though the church officially forbids polygamy, it will never be able to dissociate itself from past practice. Some of its rituals also invite a nervous scepticism.

What I found REALLY interesting is this:

What is especially odd about the Romney problem is that it is only recently that Mormonism seems to have become a political burden.

Any theories as to why being a Mormon is more of a problem now in the political arena than it was when ETB was sec of agriculture for instance?

Is it to do with a bigger evangelical voice in the rep party, or more liberal thinking on such subjects as race, or the tearing down of the iron curtain?

Suggestions?

[_Rollo Tomasi]

Well my guess is you are not going to get more then this so if it is not enough then I guess Mitt will not get your support. Me thinks you are making too much of this though.

I'm naturally cynical toward all politicians. And Mitt, like many politicians, strikes me as a charlatan, particularly when it comes to his religion. To borrow the title from GBH's recent book, "stand for something, Mitt!"

[_OUT OF MY MISERY]

About-face on social issues may be Romney’s biggest hurdle



Carl Leubsdorf




His party usually nominates its front-runner, his national support is in single digits, and polls show that as many as half of all Americans hold his religion against him.
Yet, many pundits and Republican strategists rate Mitt Romney, who formally announced his candidacy Tuesday, in the top tier of GOP hopefuls. The nonpartisan National Journal rates him the second-likeliest choice, behind Sen. John McCain.
It’s a tribute to the former Massachusetts governor’s personal appeal, successful tenures in private and public life and an ability to raise money, plus a reflection of doubts about other GOP hopefuls.
But Romney faces his own unique handicaps.
He starts with less support than McCain, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Many Americans express doubts about voting for a Mormon. He has shown an increasing tendency to change positions on issues to woo the GOP’s conservative base.
One factor in his low numbers is that many Republicans know little about him. But polls show that up to half have qualms because of his religion.
Romney’s most serious problem may be a belief that he has changed his views to appeal more to the GOP’s conservative base.
As a Senate candidate in 1994, he backed abortion rights and a greater role for gays and lesbians in the GOP. He told a gay paper he’d be a better advocate for gays than Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Now he is “pro-life” and leading an effort to ban gay marriage in Massachusetts. “I was at a different place at that point in my own thinking,” he conceded in an interview with the National Journal. “I did change my views on abortion.”
In 2002, he supported embryonic stem cell research but later opposed government funding. The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper, says he dropped prior support of campaign finance reform, an issue that strained McCain’s ties with social conservatives.
Two weeks ago, Romney received a lukewarm reception at a conservative conference put on by National Review magazine.
But he dramatically displayed his potential last month when, in a single day, his campaign raised $6.5 million. He’s done well wooing GOP lawmakers, in part because of strains between McCain and many Republicans. He met recently with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, whom some see as a potential running mate, but she stayed uncommitted.
Romney has attracted impressive support in the key early states of Iowa, including two respected former state party chairs and the 2002 GOP candidate for governor, and New Hampshire.
To win, he almost certainly will have to match other Massachusetts nominees by finishing in the top three in Iowa and winning New Hampshire.
Beyond tactical successes, Romney has an impressive resume: successful careers in business as a venture capitalist — his firm played a big role in the success of the Staples office supply chain; as head of the 2002 Olympics in Utah; and as governor, including enactment of one of the most far-reaching state efforts to expand health care coverage.
An energetic campaigner who turns 60 in March, he might seem more vigorous than McCain, 70, who would be the oldest person elected president.
Though Romney made clear Tuesday that he backs the effort in Iraq and President Bush’s plans to bolster U.S. forces, he has had less to do with the controversial endeavor than McCain. His changed positions on social issues put him closer to the heart of the GOP than Giuliani.
In the end, a lot depends on whether he can attract enough conservative support to win the nomination and still be acceptable to moderate independents he’ll need to win the general election.
“I’m not the most conservative candidate, and I’m not the most moderate,” Romney told William McKenzie of The Dallas Morning News last week. A little fuzziness in a candidate’s perception has rarely proved fatal.
(Carl P. Leubsdorf is Washington bureau chief of The Dallas Morning News..)
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

[_Zakuska]

If he can get the Illinois and Missouri votes... we're in business!

[_Bond...James Bond]

If he can get the Illinois and Missouri votes... we're in business!

He isn't getting Illinois. No way, no how. A priesthood blessing by both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young couldn't pull that one out.

[_Who Knows]

I haven't paid a lot of attention to the presidential race yet - especially the republican side. Wow - the republicans are in deep doodoo - the choices are horrible. Mccain is a frontrunner? Are you kidding me? Guiliani seems like he could be a decent choice though i guess.