Romney? really?

The GOP field looks really abyssmal this cycle..but even with that, Romney is the bottom of the barrel. Hitching their wagon to his star seems like a terrible decision.

The long and clearly documented history of racism in Mormon faith and doctrine will make Mitt Romney's campaign lively, to say the least.

"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African Race? If the White man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so." - Brigham Young (as in Brigham Young University, in Utah)

http://www.truthandgrace.com/Racism.html http://www.i4m.com/think/comments/mormon-racism.htm http://www.religioustolerance.org/lds_race.htm

C'mon, Leo, there's plenty to argue about with Mitt Romney without blaming him for everything that might have once been written or said by his religious forebears...

Or should we blame every Catholic politician for the Crusades?

Don't underestimate Mitt Romney. He has huge financial and grassroots support, and nearly beat Ted Kennedy in his first run for U.S. Senate.

Romney is smart, charismatic, and well-financed. And any Republican who is capable of winning a statewide office in Massachussetts is a very credible candidate nationwide.

I think he's a lock to win the GOP nomination, and that we'll see one of the greatest values debates of our generation when he and Obama square off in the general election.

Or should we blame every Catholic politician for the Crusades?

My daughter was born in Salt Lake City during the Tsunami disaster in 2004, and the LDS organized and delivered millions in disaster relief in a matter of days, and they did it in coordination with Mosques and Muslim groups around the United States.

I've never been more impressed by a charitable response from any organization than I was by the LDS response to that event in 2004.

During the campaign, some of the best, most respectful conversations that I had were with conservative members of the LDS church.

I don't agree with many of the social positions held by the LDS, but I have great respect for the communitarian values that the modern LDS church has promulgated among its members. The people I've met who are Mormon have always treated me with courtesy and respect.

Romney is smart, charismatic, and well-financed. And any Republican who is capable of winning a statewide office in Massachussetts is a very credible candidate nationwide.

My dear friends that live in Massachusetts initially loved Romney. But they came to universally dislike him after his governership--mostly because he's an empty suit.

There are going to be a lot of people from Mass coming out to diss Mitt, methinks. And they won't all be liberals.

Incidentally, I tend to agree with Sal on the Mormon issue. I strongly disagree with the church's take on social issues--but the people that I've encountered from their church have generally been very courteous and respectful.

"I think he's a lock to win the GOP nomination, and that we'll see one of the greatest values debates of our generation when he and Obama square off in the general election."

Never gonna happen, Sal. He can't get the nomination when more than half of evangelicals won't touch him on principle because he's Mormon. He'll lose significant numbers of other evangelicals by being pro-choice (or at least pandering to being pro-life while having made repeated pro-choice statements in the recent past, like this one, {U2be video}). Their influence on general elections is a little overblown I think, but they form the very core of the Republican primary electorate. I really don't think it's going to be any of the three front runners for the GOP. Their field really, really sucks and they know it--60% of Republicans aren't happy with their candidates, while 60% of Democrats are.

I sure do hope he loses the nomination, but I fear he won't. Mitt Romney is the only guy in their field that worries me.

Or should we blame every Catholic politician for the Crusades?

The Crusades happened 600 to 900 years ago. On the other hand, the Mormon/LDS church taught racial prejudice as official church doctrine up until about 30 years ago, within the lifetime of many Mormons, including Mitt Romney.

Does the framework of judgments and beliefs upon which a person stakes their "eternal soul" have no bearing on decisions they could make in office? Why would we assume politicians are closet apostates, who don't actually believe what they're taught in church?

The Mormon church, like most churches, does good charity work. Catholic Charities is the single largest relief organization in the U.S., larger than any other non-profit and rivalling in some ways the government's own efforts for the poor. The Mormon and Catholic churches are also the two largest financial backers of anti-GLBT political efforts in America, and have very spotty records when it comes their official stances on American (and other) wars over the years. They are very rich, very powerful, very political entities.

For those of us directly impacted by these church's untaxed political efforts, at least, it is not so simple to pretend there is a clean line between church and state. Because there isn't.

Never gonna happen, Sal. He can't get the nomination when more than half of evangelicals won't touch him on principle because he's Mormon.

I'd seen those polls, or ones very much like it. Still, I've got a 6-pack of microbrews that says that Romney wins the GOP nomination primarily based on the strength of his support from self-identified conservative "values voters".

However it plays out, it'll be an interesting campaign.

FWIW, I think we'll see a darker and more brutal rehash of Napolitano's gubernatorial campaign against Salmon with GOP contenders trying to link Romney to Warren Jeffs and his clan.

Incidentally, TJ, that campaign does support your assertion that evangelicals won't go for Romney. Salmon fared worse in heavily evangelical districts than non-LDS Republican congressional candidates -- although my sense is that the Arizona experience with Jeffs in Boulder City won't have as strong of an impact on a national stage.