Pressure on Mitt Romney to Firmly Address Mormon Faith [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/Reuters: Pressure on Romney to Firmly Address Mormon Faith
By REUTERS
Published: February 24, 2007

BOSTON (Reuters) - As he seeks to become the first Mormon U.S. president, Republican Mitt Romney faces a dilemma in courting conservative Christians who often dismiss his religion as a cult but now could decide his political fate.

Should he address his religion head-on in a speech, as John F. Kennedy did in 1960 to Texas Baptists while campaigning to become the first Roman Catholic U.S. president?

Or should he resist debate over a religion that evangelicals, who are key to winning the Republican primaries, often view with suspicion?

"It's a delicate balance, but I don't think the strategy of ignoring this is going to work,'' said Boston University professor Julian Zelizer. "At the moment he seems not to accept it as a legitimate issue and hopes that it goes away.''...

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The Salt Lake City, Utah-based church is one of the world's fastest-growing and affluent religions.

It bans alcohol, caffeine and tobacco, maintains that no one goes to hell, the dead can be baptized and God speaks through living apostles and prophets such as the church's current president, Gordon Hinckley....

Romney, 59, has called polygamy "bizarre'' and does not drink, smoke or swear. He is married to his high-school sweetheart, Ann -- which sits better with conservative Christians than Giuliani's two failed marriages and McCain's divorce....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-politics-romney.html?_r=1&oref=login