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

[_Seven]

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.

I have followed the Republican side (I love politics) & I am bothered by Guiliani's stance on abortion. Now he appears to be flip flopping by stating he will elect conservative judges. I support his change of heart on the issue, but he is flip flopping just like Mitt Romney is with abortion. I would have hoped for more principled based behavior from them both. I think Guiliani has a good chance, if as the polls show, America wants a more moderate choice. Romney has plenty of money to back him up so who knows?
McCain has had a lot of media coverage along with Guiliani, but Romeny has not. His Mormon faith will be an asset to getting his name out there but I don't know if the Evangelicals will support a Mormon. I have seen different polls that seem to suggest they won't but a few that do. We will see.

I believe if Mitt wins the nomination, we are going to see some Mormonism in the spotlight. It has been mentioned on every interview I have seen with him. Once the campaign gets serious. the opposing Dem. candidate will use this against him. I don't believe McCain or Guiliani will use it against him, but the Democratic candidate would be stupid not to.
I think it could mean we will see racial statements made by Prophets, polygamy doctrine and any other immoral teaching not so long ago practiced by LDS Prophets and apostles.
Campaigns get ugly and Mormonism is a great target. There is too much material for them to choose from. I believe this could hurt the church in a few ways. First, there are bound to be things said on interviews and ads that most LDS won't believe our leaders ever did or said. This could cause some people to go through what some of us have in learning "things that are true but not useful." Most will brush it off as "anti Mormon" lies, but there will come a point when that answer won't work anymore.
Second, the missionaries will have a much tougher time with investigators if the "sacred" not "secret" things are out there. Mormons will appear more weird than ever before and it will be embarrassing for some LDS to have that information. on television for the world to see. No doubt, some LDS will view any coverage of Mormonism as a good thing and there will be apologists ready to defend any immoral behavior or statement by an LDS leader.

I don't know how much it will hurt Mitt, as some may see this as "off limits" to use against him and feel it violates our belief in freedom of religion. It could make him look like a victim of persecution. I wonder how many Americans still can't stand Mormons or if the mainstreaming has worked?
I hope he gets the nomination just to see what will happen.

[_jayneedoe]

I believe if Mitt wins the nomination, we are going to see some Mormonism in the spotlight. It has been mentioned on every interview I have seen with him. Once the campaign gets serious. the opposing Dem. candidate will use this against him. I don't believe McCain or Guiliani will use it against him, but the Democratic candidate would be stupid not to.
I think it could mean we will see racial statements made by Prophets, polygamy doctrine and any other immoral teaching not so long ago practiced by LDS Prophets and apostles.
Campaigns get ugly and Mormonism is a great target. There is too much material for them to choose from. I believe this could hurt the church in a few ways. First, there are bound to be things said on interviews and ads that most LDS won't believe our leaders ever did or said. This could cause some people to go through what some of us have in learning "things that are true but not useful." Most will brush it off as "anti Mormon" lies, but there will come a point when that answer won't work anymore.
Second, the missionaries will have a much tougher time with investigators if the "sacred" not "secret" things are out there. Mormons will appear more weird than ever before and it will be embarrassing for some LDS to have that information. on television for the world to see. No doubt, some LDS will view any coverage of Mormonism as a good thing and there will be apologists ready to defend any immoral behavior or statement by an LDS leader.

I don't know how much it will hurt Mitt, as some may see this as "off limits" to use against him and feel it violates our belief in freedom of religion. It could make him look like a victim of persecution. I wonder how many Americans still can't stand Mormons or if the mainstreaming has worked?
I hope he gets the nomination just to see what will happen.

Bill Maher quoted some of Brigham Young's racist remarks on his Real Time show tonight. He also mentioned Mitt's magic underwear.

I think it's only the beginning of what you describe.

Jaynee

[_Jason Bourne]

I have followed the Republican side (I love politics) & I am bothered by Guiliani's stance on abortion. Now he appears to be flip flopping by stating he will elect conservative judges. I support his change of heart on the issue, but he is flip flopping just like Mitt Romney is with abortion. I would have hoped for more principled based behavior from them both. I think Guiliani has a good chance, if as the polls show, America wants a more moderate choice. Romney has plenty of money to back him up so who knows?

Rudy might be a good choice. Romney and Gingrich are the top choice currently for the conservative side. I like McCain as well but I think both he and Rudy will struggle with getting the nomination because they are not conservative enough. The conservative side of the republican party is feeling a bit put off now and they want a true conservative.

McCain has had a lot of media coverage along with Giuliani, but Romeny has not.

Romney had a spot in time, was recently on the front page of US today and is on a lot of the conservative talk shows as well as FOX.

His Mormon faith will be an asset to getting his name out there but I don't know if the Evangelicals will support a Mormon. I have seen different polls that seem to suggest they won't but a few that do. We will see.

I think the EV problem will become less and less. Many EV leader like Romney at least for his social values. When there selection becomes limited they will support Romney. If he gets the nomination and runs against Hillary or another liberal they will vote for Romney over the dem.

I believe if Mitt wins the nomination, we are going to see some Mormonism in the spotlight. It has been mentioned on every interview I have seen with him.

I agree with this as far as the press goes.

Once the campaign gets serious. the opposing Dem. candidate will use this against him. I don't believe McCain or Guiliani will use it against him, but the Democratic candidate would be stupid not to.
I think it could mean we will see racial statements made by Prophets, polygamy doctrine and any other immoral teaching not so long ago practiced by LDS Prophets and apostles.
Campaigns get ugly and Mormonism is a great target. There is too much material for them to choose from. I believe this could hurt the church in a few ways. First, there are bound to be things said on interviews and ads that most LDS won't believe our leaders ever did or said. This could cause some people to go through what some of us have in learning "things that are true but not useful." Most will brush it off as "anti Mormon" lies, but there will come a point when that answer won't work anymore.

I am skeptical that his opponents will use religion against him in this way, at least directly from them. Too Politically Incorrect. They do not want to risk looking like bigots. But through other sources and press, yes you may be correct.

Second, the missionaries will have a much tougher time with investigators if the "sacred" not "secret" things are out there. Mormons will appear more weird than ever before and it will be embarrassing for some LDS to have that information. on television for the world to see. No doubt, some LDS will view any coverage of Mormonism as a good thing and there will be apologists ready to defend any immoral behavior or statement by an LDS leader.

I think the Olympics actually opened doors. This may be the case as well for the Romney factor.

I don't know how much it will hurt Mitt, as some may see this as "off limits" to use against him and feel it violates our belief in freedom of religion. It could make him look like a victim of persecution. I wonder how many Americans still can't stand Mormons or if the mainstreaming has worked?
I hope he gets the nomination just to see what will happen.

It would be interesting.

[_Brackite]

Mitt is a flip-flopper.

At least, all the republicans who called Kerry a flip-flopper are going to be exposed as hypocrites if they don't call Mitt one too.

They will fail to see th irony, but if Mitt were a Democrat, they would have launched a very expensive attack based on these flip-flops already. Plus they would have lambasted Mitt for his use of four letter words while he briefly worked on a traffic jam during the 2002 Olympics. Good thing Mitt is a Republican.

Hi there,

There is already a Conservative News Article out from World Net Daily Pointing out Governor Mitt Romney’ flip flop on the Abortion issue. Here is the link to that Article:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=54214

[_Coggins7]

Bill Maher quoted some of Brigham Young's racist remarks on his Real Time show tonight. He also mentioned Mitt's magic underwear.

I think it's only the beginning of what you describe.

Bill Maher has the intellecutual capactity and credibility of a rubber chew toy. One of the very serious problems of our modern, pop culture driven, image driven society is precisely taking people like Bill Maher seriously.

Maher undoubtedly wholeheartedly supports the pervasive, official, government sponsored institutionla discriminatin known as Affirmatve Action, so perhaps he's not the one to be pointing fingers at a 19th century Mormon leader, a member of an era in which, had Maher himself lived, he would have in all llkelihood, gone far beyond Young in his assessment of Black people.

I'm not sure who has less credibilty at this point, Bill Maher or Dan Rather.


Loran

[_Bond...James Bond]

I'm not sure who has less credibilty at this point, Bill Maher or Dan Rather.

Loran

That would be Pres. Bush.

[_moksha]

Loran, I suspect you would find Bill Maher to be very witty if only he were saying the things you agree with. However, I do like your chewtoy imagery. Perhaps we could use it for someone like Bill O'Reily.

[_Coggins7]

Actually, I find him witty regardless, just as I find Al Find Al Franken to be humorous. Maher's problem is that he's so intellectually dense and filled with pop entertainment community ideology that he can neither think for himself or think deeply enough to have serious views on anything.

As to Bond's comment, George Bush is compeltely credibe, if the Iraq war and the war on terror is the subject, and has been so proven to be so by a series of investigations that have thoroughly vetted and examined these issues. My main problem with Bush on the war is his failure to pursue it with the aggressiivenes, ruthlessnes, and focus the threat deserves, as well as his failure to rebuild the American military (which is physically far too small for the tasks required of it in the present world), and his failure to purge the military of its civilianized, over bearuacratized, politicized leadership and command structure.

The Bush administration, despite the serious differences I have with it on some issues, has been the most scandel free adminsitration in my lifetime. The pre-war intelligence witchhunt has been debunked for quite a while now, as has been the hysterical anti-semitic "the Neocons are running the whitehouse" argument of the Democratic base.

Those who really came out of the last six years lacking all moral or intellectual credibilty: The mainstream media as a whole (as always, on just about every issue regardless), Dan Rather and his superiors in particular, Kofi Annan and the U.N., France, Russia, China, and Germany, and the Democratic Party and its morally feckless leadership.