If Mitt Romney Was Not A Mormon

[Lincoln Republican]

Mitt Romney's Mormonism seems to be a major point of focus by the media and others, in the Romney campaign.

Personally, I find it appalling that in this day and age there are still those out there who who attack his faith and attack Romney because of his faith.

Anyway, my question is, if Mitt Romney was not a Mormon, would he be an even stronger contender for the Presidency than he is at present?

Comments and reasons please. 

[Rob]

Comments and reasons please. 

Are you a Mormon?

[Lincoln Republican]

Note, please do not derail this thread by going off in other directions.

Stick to the question asked.

[Kevin]

Mitt Romney's Mormonism seems to be a major point of focus by the media and others, in the Romney campaign.

Personally, I find it appalling that in this day and age there are still those out there who who attack his faith and attack Romney because of his faith.

Anyway, my question is, if Mitt Romney was not a Mormon, would he be an even stronger contender for the Presidency than he is at present?

Comments and reasons please. 

Remember only Republicans are ridiculed for their religious views.

[Lief 🗽]

Mitt Romney's Mormonism seems to be a major point of focus by the media and others, in the Romney campaign.

Personally, I find it appalling that in this day and age there are still those out there who who attack his faith and attack Romney because of his faith.

Anyway, my question is, if Mitt Romney was not a Mormon, would he be an even stronger contender for the Presidency than he is at present?

Comments and reasons please. 

Remember only Republicans are ridiculed for their religious views.

Riiiight. Which is why Kerry was attacked endlessly over not being Catholic enough because he was pro-choice.

The problem with Mitt's Mormonism is that the Southern baptist base of the Republican party thinks that Mormonism is a cult. If he were a Democrat, I doubt it would be very much of a problem (and definitely not as big of one). If he were not a Mormon, he would be a stronger candidate, yes, but he'd also not have as much money, which might mean no ads in Iowa, which might mean still being in third place.

[Ebowed]

"One of the great things about this great land is we have people of different faiths and persuasions.  And I am convinced that the nation does need people of different faiths, but we do need a person of faith to lead the country."  --- Mitt Romney

This was after he was heckled by a Christian fundamentalist who said that he was a "pretender" and that Romney "does not know the Lord."  Why is it okay for Mitt Romney to announce, to stand-up applause, that an atheist or agnostic should not lead the country?

[Alcon]

I don't think there's much of an argument to be made for Romney's Mormonism being a big asset, although he sure is winning Mormons if Utah polls are any indication.

[Ebowed]

I don't think there's much of an argument to be made for Romney's Mormonism being a big asset, although he sure is winning Mormons if Utah polls are any indication.

Well, see, that's just another problem with this "STOP MISTREATING HIM BECAUSE OF HIS RELIGION" business.  Pretty much every practicing member of the LDS supports Mitt Romney.  Why is that?  And yet, it's wrong to not support him on the basis of religion.  If we removed the candidates' religions and just showed their positions on the issues, Romney would probably be in a three-way race to gain the Mormon vote with Fred Thompson and John McCain.

[Gabu]

Remember only Republicans are ridiculed for their religious views.

Oh yeah, we would certainly never have people claiming that a Democrat is a secret Muslim in disguise out to subvert Christian America.

[Bacon King]

Romney would be doing worse if he wasn't a Mormon.

[gorkay]

I haven't heard or read any attacks on him because of his religion. Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention. I don't think it makes much difference as to his chances for being nominated or elected. His biggest problem is that he appears to be trying to paint himself as a conservative after taking moderate positions on most issues for his entire political career.

[Jeff from NC]

When has the media ridiculed Romney for his religion?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The Democrats are attacked all the time for being "anti-Christian", even though their candidates are all Christian.

[agcatter]

and Christians are attacked all the time by the elites for being holy rollers....

anyone remember that map published on a variety of lefty websites the day after the 2004 election - red and blue state map  of the U S election results with the red being labeled "Jesusland"

[wdecker1]

If Romney was not a Mormon, he would be on his way to winning the Republican nomination.

[Jacobtm]

If Mitt Romney was a Protestant of some sort, he'd probably have about 5% more support, give or take, depending where religious discrimination is strongest. Though he'd be doing only average in Utah.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Mitt Romney's Mormonism seems to be a major point of focus by the media and others, in the Romney campaign.

Personally, I find it appalling that in this day and age there are still those out there who who attack his faith and attack Romney because of his faith.

Anyway, my question is, if Mitt Romney was not a Mormon, would he be an even stronger contender for the Presidency than he is at present?

Comments and reasons please. 

I don't trust mormons in positions of power. The same goes for muslims, scientologists and conservative protestants.

[StateBoiler]

Mitt Romney's Mormonism seems to be a major point of focus by the media and others, in the Romney campaign.

Personally, I find it appalling that in this day and age there are still those out there who who attack his faith and attack Romney because of his faith.

Anyway, my question is, if Mitt Romney was not a Mormon, would he be an even stronger contender for the Presidency than he is at present?

Comments and reasons please. 

No.

Because his methods make him seem the lovechild of Bill Clinton and John Kerry.

He's slick and slippery and he changes his opinion every five minutes.

[poughies]

The truth is that people use his Mormonism as an excuse to not like him, when in reality, they don't like him because he's too slick and smooth. I couldn't possible get close to the guy.... U know Huckabee took a taxi from Penn (maybe it was grand central?) Station without any entourage to a spot in Manhattan for an interview. It's not that Romney is rich or a Mormon, its that he seems out of touch.

[Cubby]

"One of the great things about this great land is we have people of different faiths and persuasions.  And I am convinced that the nation does need people of different faiths, but we do need a person of faith to lead the country."  --- Mitt Romney

This was after he was heckled by a Christian fundamentalist who said that he was a "pretender" and that Romney "does not know the Lord."  Why is it okay for Mitt Romney to announce, to stand-up applause, that an atheist or agnostic should not lead the country?

I agree, he's an enormous hyporcite in this regard. But its more politically acceptable to disparage non-religious people than other minorities. Plus part of his job is to suck up to Protestant fundamentalists who would otherwise support him but don't because he's in the "Jesus is from America" cult.

anyone remember that map published on a variety of lefty websites the day after the 2004 election - red and blue state map  of the U S election results with the red being labeled "Jesusland"

Yeah, that was a great map. At the time, I wanted to get it as a poster or T-shirt but couldn't find it. It may not have been very realistic, but it reflected the frustration of many Democrats at the time.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I wonder—has anyone here pondered the positives Mitt Romney is on the receiving end of because of his Mormonism?

First, he has built in set of socially conservative, motivated, and oft wealthy supporters who are no strangers to hitting the pavement and working for a cause.  His campaign has reached out extensively to the Mormon community, and the Mormon community has been extraordinarily receptive to this.

Second, being a Mormon is a huge advantage in the west, specifically Nevada and its early (potentially influential) primary.  Romney simply would not be leading there at this point if he wasn't a Mormon.

[Person Man]

If Romney wasn't a Mormon, he would be more likely to win the nomination. After that, he would, as he will, be ripped for being a compulsive liar.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Mitt romney is a john kerry style flipflopper.

[ag]

A Mormon would have a much easier time winning as a Dem, not as a Rep.  Both Mormons and conservative Protestants are natural Republican electorate, but the former are much more numerous, and from their standpoint he is not a Christian - not something they would take lightly. Furthermore, in the general election his Mormonism is gaining him few votes: most of his correligionists would vote for a Republican anyway - whereas a Mormon  Dem (against a protestant Rep) would easily carry Nevada and would make the Reps spend some time money in Utah and Idaho.  Furthermore, as there are relatively few white evangelicals in the Dem primary electorate, a Mormon would be less of a deal there (how would the black electorate react is a separate matter - somebody could, at least, try raising the issue).

Romney shouldn't be dismissed, but his religion is, obviously, an issue to many. Mormonism might be an American religion, but it is not, really, a Christian denomination (from the standpoint of other Christian groups - even many liberal Christian groups, for that matter, have difficulty recognizing Mormon sacraments).  And the U.S. has never had a serious non-Christian contender for presidency. Even if he becomes a VP it would be a major development.

[RRB]

I am not a fan of Mitt, religion or the right, but it is a shame that it matters so much that he is a Morman.   It is policy that matters.  Let us who are liberals never forget that Carter was and is an evangelical.  Any religion is fine, just don't mix it with policy.  Unfortunatly, that's not how is usually works.