Mitt Romney: His Mormon Religious Beliefs Hurt His Bid for President
Huckabee Hurt, but Didn't Sink the Ship
Romney won on Super Tuesday in Colorado. That win was in vain since Mitt Romney has announced that he's "suspending" his campaign. What happened and why is he out of the Presidential race for 2008?
Multiple factors have affected Mitt Romney's campaign. Romney shared the limelight with Mike Huckabee, another true conservative. Indeed, Huckabee has only won 191 delegate votes yet he remains in the race.
By comparison, Romney had a total of 286 delegates and McCain has won 714 delegates. After dropping out of the race, Rudy Giuliani endorsed McCain. This had to hurt Romney, evidenced by McCain winning New York and it's 101 delegates.
If we add Romney and Huckabee's votes together, they still only totaled 477, putting the combination of these two candidates far behind McCain even when combined.
While Huckabee attracted many in the religious right, he was different than Romney in one major way - his religious beliefs.
Without a doubt, Romney's religion hurt his campaign. While few people openly discussed the views of the Mormon Church, officially known as Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, even fewer people actually understand what the Mormon's believe. Most people think of Mormon's as "those people with more than one wife."
Yes, there are sects of the Mormon religion that believe in having more than one wife. Why on earth a man would want more than one woman confound this woman, but it's a life that some men choose. The Mormon Church, or the LDS Church, has officially said that they don't approve of this behavior.
That hasn't stopped people from practicing polygamy, just as Christian Churches believing in equal rights for African Americans has not stopped racism.
John F. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic elected to the office of President. The 2008 presidential race is full of possible firsts. It's possible that we'll have our first black President, or perhaps our first woman President.
But it's no longer possible to have our first Mormon President. Maybe one-day people will view Mormon's as Christians, too. Maybe one day we'll have our first Mormon President.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#val=R
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#NYREP
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/07/romney.campaign/index.html
Published by Patty Oh
A self-employed writer and speaker, Patty has eclectic interests. She loves long road trips and the silence of swimming. An avid reader and SEO writer, she is also available for hire. View profile
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16 Comments
Post a CommentPatty, I think Romney had other problems......
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/589103/mitt_romneys_dick_swett_problem_may.html
Patty, sorry I haven't written to you in quite awhile. I've been busy. This whole election has been a surprise. Who should think that McCain is on the top now when he was so far down the list. No telling who will win the race, but it is exciting. I love watching the debates. Keep up your good work. Glad you're getting so many readers.
Patty, sorry I haven't written to you in quite awhile. I've been busy. This whole election has been a surprise. Who should think that McCain is on the top now when he was so far down the list. No telling who will win the race, but it is exciting. I love watching the debates. Keep up your good work. Glad you're getting so many readers.
I won't get into the Mormon versus Christian debate here, but I believe MR pulled out to save his bid for another time. He's a smart man and he knew that in order to be able to run again in the future it was time to get out and get behind McCain. In doing so, he left his options open in the event that something happens to McCain. He knew exactly what he was doing.
I couldn't believe it when he pulled out.
Pam, MR's not without faults. Perhaps he has a much better rep out west where he really turned around the SLC Olympics. They were in shambles, and they ended up being wonderful. It's always a comparison - this candidate over another - and McCain isn't that well thought of in many parts of the west. Additionally, there are many, many people in the religious right that base a majority of their vote on religion. The number of people who do this hold enormous sway, and most don't view MR as a Christian....see the post just a few below this one.
I think historians will continue to expand on the impact of various demographics of this and all the candidates. Interesting article.
Interesting article, but MR's rep in Mass. where he was governor is not all that shiny. There were definite questions about his ethics (involving Medicare before he was Gov), he is associated with one of the biggest public works fiascos ever (The Big Dig), and he is too liberal for many Republicans. If only if it were as "simple" as religion.
Patty, You said: "Maybe one-day people will view Mormon's as Christians, too.", but this is unlikley since most people know that Mormons, like Muslims and Bhuddists, are not Christians. Some core examples that seperate the two:
1Mormon - God was once a man like us.
1Christian - God was, is, and always will be God.
2Mormon - Many Gods, an unknown number of them
2Christian - One God. Isaiah 44 "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God...Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any."
3Mormon - Salvation by grace AND works 2 Nephi 25:23
3Christian - Salvation by faith alone. Many verses, one example Ephesians 2:8-9
4Mormon - Men become Gods, have a marriage and children in Heaven
4Christian - "Men become Gods" is blasphemy. Jesus said we will be neither married nor given in marriage in Heaven. Matthew 22:29-30
and
The Jesus of the Bible: Co-Eternal with God, without beginning or end.
The Jesus of Mormonism: Created by a God, who
Sects -- Thank you for your clarification and comments. This highlights the way the LDS beliefs are misunderstood by a great number of Americans.