Romney to address voters on Mormon faith

DES MOINES, Iowa – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, striving to be the country’s first Mormon president, will give a speech this week explaining his relatively unknown faith to voters, his campaign said Sunday.

The decision, made after months of debate at his Boston headquarters over whether to make a public address about his religion, comes as the former Massachusetts governor’s bid is threatened in Iowa by underdog Mike Huckabee. The ex-governor of Arkansas and one-time Southern Baptist minister has rallied influential Christian conservatives to erase Romney’s monthslong lead and turn the race into a dead heat.

Romney will deliver a speech called “Faith in America” at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, on Thursday, outlining his religious beliefs and how they might affect his administration.

Campaign spokesman Kevin Madden stressed that Romney made the decision last week and the venue doesn’t indicate that Bush is endorsing Romney.

The Texas site – and speech itself – recalls the address John F. Kennedy made in Houston as he sought to explain his faith during the 1960 campaign and become the first Catholic president.

Skepticism about his religion has proven difficult for Romney to overcome, particularly in Iowam, where religious conservatives play a powerful role in GOP caucuses. Romney has spent heavily in the state, hoping to use a win here as a launching pad to the nomination.