BISHOP ROMNEY = LIAR

Romney says his White House bid not defined by Mormon faith

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

San Francisco Chronicle

Friday, December 7, 2007

San Francisco -- GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered a

passionate speech Thursday in defense of his Mormon and religious

values, but the much-heralded address may not be the miracle cure for

the real challenges in his campaign: voters' concerns about his

scripted style and shifting political positions.

"Not by a long shot," said Hoover Institution research fellow Bill

Whalen. For Romney, he said, "the larger challenge is the issue of

genuineness. The word that keeps coming up repeatedly is 'plastic.'

He's very handsome, he has all these remarkable conservative

positions, and it's almost too perfect and too scripted."

Whalen said Romney, in an address considered crucial to his

presidential aspirations, "looked presidential because he gave a

speech in a presidential library and picked the same state as John

Kennedy to do it."

But what remains is "the issue of whether he's sufficiently

believable," he said.

Romney, speaking at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in

College Station, Texas, assured voters that "no authorities of my

church will ever exert influence on my presidential decisions."

The 60-year-old former Massachusetts governor specifically mentioned

his Mormon religion only once - but he called religious liberty

"fundamental to American greatness."

"I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy

by my religion," he said. "Let me assure you that no authorities of my

church will ever evert influence on presidential decisions.

"I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the

office and the sovereign authorities of the law," he said. "I will

serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest.

A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the

United States."

Romney took the stage just 90 miles from where then-presidential

candidate John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, delivered a similar

speech on faith in 1960 - and was introduced by George H.W. Bush, the

father of the president now in office.

Patrick Dorinson, a state GOP consultant, said Romney's speech gave

voters a national platform and a very positive view of the candidate.

"He showed passion ... instead of looking like a corporate automaton"-

a frequent criticism, Dorinson said.

But Dorinson warned that the speech - instead of putting to bed

voters' concerns regarding the Mormon faith - may only attract more

focus on it.

"We're likely to hear people say, 'Well, what is Mormonism?' And

they'll start talking about the golden plates, the Angel Moroni and

Joseph Smith ... and I wonder if that's the next shoe to drop."

With just a month until the Iowa caucuses, the first voting in the

2008 presidential race, Romney has stagnated in the polls. Despite a

large fundraising advantage and strong early support in Iowa and New

Hampshire, which holds its primary Jan. 8, Romney faces increasing

competition for the loyalties of evangelical voters from the campaign

of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister.

Evangelicals are a crucial voting bloc for Republican candidates and

are expected to make up a significant percentage of Iowa's GOP caucus

voters.

Huckabee, in his television ads in Iowa, has pointedly described

himself as "a Christian leader" who will not change or waver in his

beliefs - a clear message to evangelicals concerned about Romney's

Mormon faith, which some consider heretical. In campaign appearances,

Huckabee has sidestepped questions about whether Romney is a Christian

and whether Mormonism is a cult.

In an Associated Press-Yahoo Inc. poll last month, half of those

surveyed said they had problems supporting a Mormon presidential

candidate; one-fifth said it would make them very uncomfortable.

Fifty-six percent of white evangelical Christians expressed

reservations about a Mormon candidate. Among non-evangelicals, 48

percent said it troubled them. Almost a quarter - 23 percent - of

evangelicals said they were very uncomfortable with the idea.

But Romney, in a flawlessly delivered 20-minute address carried live

by cable news channels, tried to overcome those feelings when he spoke

about the importance of faith as an American value. Romney's wife of

38 years, Ann, and four of the couple's five sons sat in the front row

for the speech - two with their own children.

Romney said some have asked him to distance himself from his religion.

"That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith, and I endeavor to

live by it," he said. "My faith is the faith of my fathers," and

should questions about it sink his campaign, "so be it."

Romney didn't delve into Mormon doctrine. But "I believe that Jesus

Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind," he said, adding

"each religion has its own doctrines and history."

"No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith, for if he

becomes president, he will need the prayers of the people of all

faiths," he said to applause.

In choosing his themes, Romney's address contained "faint echoes" of

those used by Smith, the founder of the Mormon church - also known as

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - who ran for

president in the 1844 election, said Robert Wicks, the author of

"Junius and Joseph: Presidential Politics and the Assassination of the

First Mormon Prophet," a book about Smith's political career.

Smith in 1844 called himself "an independent man with American

principles," and, Wicks said, "was poised to build a theocratic

democracy, where God and the people hold the power to conduct the

affairs of men in righteousness."

Wicks said Romney did "a good job of stressing Mormonism's

commonalities with mainstream Christianity. Critics will say that he

did not go far enough in pointing out Mormonism's distinctiveness."

But Romney clearly sought to avoid stressing that distinctiveness and

emphasized his religion's common values with other faiths.

"Any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty has a friend and

ally in me," he said, adding that he welcomes "our nation's symphony

of faith."

The speech wasn't the only occasion in which Romney has talked about

his faith, although it was certainly the most formal - and the most

important to his campaign aspirations. Earlier this year, Romney was

captured at a radio talk show in an unscripted and often combative

talk that went into details on what he believes as a Mormon.

That conversation, reported earlier this year on Politico.com, can be

seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0rc AByKUFM.

"I do not distance myself from my faith in any way, shape or form,"

Romney told talk show host Jan Michelson at radio station WHO during a

discussion videotaped during commercials. "You don't understand my

faith like I do ... having been a leader in my church."

Romney, specifically addressing Mormon doctrine and discussing his

beliefs regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ, said, "Over the

1,000 years that follows the Millennium, he will reign in two

places. ... One will be in Missouri, and one will be in Jerusalem."

http://www.truthandgrace.com/mormonhistory.com

"Shaky Republican" <summeroverwinter@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:ce75e876-b26a-45b8-8311-3bcfa9e83d0d@a35g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

> Romney says his White House bid not defined by Mormon faith

> Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

> San Francisco Chronicle

> Friday, December 7, 2007

>

> San Francisco -- GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered a

> passionate speech Thursday in defense of his Mormon and religious

> values, but the much-heralded address may not be the miracle cure for

> the real challenges in his campaign: voters' concerns about his

> scripted style and shifting political positions.

>

> "Not by a long shot," said Hoover Institution research fellow Bill

> Whalen. For Romney, he said, "the larger challenge is the issue of

> genuineness. The word that keeps coming up repeatedly is 'plastic.'

> He's very handsome, he has all these remarkable conservative

> positions, and it's almost too perfect and too scripted."

>

> Whalen said Romney, in an address considered crucial to his

> presidential aspirations, "looked presidential because he gave a

> speech in a presidential library and picked the same state as John

> Kennedy to do it."

>

> But what remains is "the issue of whether he's sufficiently

> believable," he said.

>

> Romney, speaking at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in

> College Station, Texas, assured voters that "no authorities of my

> church will ever exert influence on my presidential decisions."

>

> The 60-year-old former Massachusetts governor specifically mentioned

> his Mormon religion only once - but he called religious liberty

> "fundamental to American greatness."

>

> "I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy

> by my religion," he said. "Let me assure you that no authorities of my

> church will ever evert influence on presidential decisions.

>

> "I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the

> office and the sovereign authorities of the law," he said. "I will

> serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest.

> A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the

> United States."

> Romney took the stage just 90 miles from where then-presidential

> candidate John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, delivered a similar

> speech on faith in 1960 - and was introduced by George H.W. Bush, the

> father of the president now in office.

>

> Patrick Dorinson, a state GOP consultant, said Romney's speech gave

> voters a national platform and a very positive view of the candidate.

>

> "He showed passion ... instead of looking like a corporate automaton"-

> a frequent criticism, Dorinson said.

>

> But Dorinson warned that the speech - instead of putting to bed

> voters' concerns regarding the Mormon faith - may only attract more

> focus on it.

>

> "We're likely to hear people say, 'Well, what is Mormonism?' And

> they'll start talking about the golden plates, the Angel Moroni and

> Joseph Smith ... and I wonder if that's the next shoe to drop."

> With just a month until the Iowa caucuses, the first voting in the

> 2008 presidential race, Romney has stagnated in the polls. Despite a

> large fundraising advantage and strong early support in Iowa and New

> Hampshire, which holds its primary Jan. 8, Romney faces increasing

> competition for the loyalties of evangelical voters from the campaign

> of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister.

>

> Evangelicals are a crucial voting bloc for Republican candidates and

> are expected to make up a significant percentage of Iowa's GOP caucus

> voters.

>

> Huckabee, in his television ads in Iowa, has pointedly described

> himself as "a Christian leader" who will not change or waver in his

> beliefs - a clear message to evangelicals concerned about Romney's

> Mormon faith, which some consider heretical. In campaign appearances,

> Huckabee has sidestepped questions about whether Romney is a Christian

> and whether Mormonism is a cult.

>

> In an Associated Press-Yahoo Inc. poll last month, half of those

> surveyed said they had problems supporting a Mormon presidential

> candidate; one-fifth said it would make them very uncomfortable.

> Fifty-six percent of white evangelical Christians expressed

> reservations about a Mormon candidate. Among non-evangelicals, 48

> percent said it troubled them. Almost a quarter - 23 percent - of

> evangelicals said they were very uncomfortable with the idea.

>

> But Romney, in a flawlessly delivered 20-minute address carried live

> by cable news channels, tried to overcome those feelings when he spoke

> about the importance of faith as an American value. Romney's wife of

> 38 years, Ann, and four of the couple's five sons sat in the front row

> for the speech - two with their own children.

>

> Romney said some have asked him to distance himself from his religion.

>

> "That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith, and I endeavor to

> live by it," he said. "My faith is the faith of my fathers," and

> should questions about it sink his campaign, "so be it."

>

> Romney didn't delve into Mormon doctrine. But "I believe that Jesus

> Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind," he said, adding

> "each religion has its own doctrines and history."

>

> "No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith, for if he

> becomes president, he will need the prayers of the people of all

> faiths," he said to applause.

>

> In choosing his themes, Romney's address contained "faint echoes" of

> those used by Smith, the founder of the Mormon church - also known as

> the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - who ran for

> president in the 1844 election, said Robert Wicks, the author of

> "Junius and Joseph: Presidential Politics and the Assassination of the

> First Mormon Prophet," a book about Smith's political career.

>

> Smith in 1844 called himself "an independent man with American

> principles," and, Wicks said, "was poised to build a theocratic

> democracy, where God and the people hold the power to conduct the

> affairs of men in righteousness."

>

> Wicks said Romney did "a good job of stressing Mormonism's

> commonalities with mainstream Christianity. Critics will say that he

> did not go far enough in pointing out Mormonism's distinctiveness."

>

> But Romney clearly sought to avoid stressing that distinctiveness and

> emphasized his religion's common values with other faiths.

>

> "Any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty has a friend and

> ally in me," he said, adding that he welcomes "our nation's symphony

> of faith."

>

> The speech wasn't the only occasion in which Romney has talked about

> his faith, although it was certainly the most formal - and the most

> important to his campaign aspirations. Earlier this year, Romney was

> captured at a radio talk show in an unscripted and often combative

> talk that went into details on what he believes as a Mormon.

>

> That conversation, reported earlier this year on Politico.com, can be

> seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0rc AByKUFM.

>

> "I do not distance myself from my faith in any way, shape or form,"

> Romney told talk show host Jan Michelson at radio station WHO during a

> discussion videotaped during commercials. "You don't understand my

> faith like I do ... having been a leader in my church."

>

> Romney, specifically addressing Mormon doctrine and discussing his

> beliefs regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ, said, "Over the

> 1,000 years that follows the Millennium, he will reign in two

> places. ... One will be in Missouri, and one will be in Jerusalem."

>

> http://www.truthandgrace.com/mormonhistory.com

So, what's up with all this? Do we now have a "religious test" clause in our

Constitution?

--

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

http://www.reason.com/

JC