Smart Bombs: Evangelicals Would Nix Romney?

“Many Republican Party leaders believe that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the best bet to win nomination for president in 2008. But in a recent column, Robert Novak casts doubt on that: “Prominent, respectable Evangelical Christians have told me, not for quotation, that millions of their co-religionists cannot and will not vote for Romney for president solely because he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Novak notes that Romney’s father, George, was a Mormon and a presidential candidate in 1968, but his religious affiliation wasn’t as big a deal back then. Two questions: 1) Would you reject a presidential candidate because he or she is Mormon? 2) Is this sort of religion test a positive development for our democracy?”/Gary Crooks/Spokesman-Review.

DFO: As an Evangelical, I’d have no trouble voting for Romney or any other Mormon, for that matter. Of course, Evangelicals in Idaho have a long history of voting for Mormons because we occasionally are presented with two running for the same statewide office. Obviously, I’m not lined up with them on religious doctrine. But I’ve known some terrific Mormon office-holders, including the late Ron Rankin and former 2nd District congressman Richard Stallings.