Truthdig - Ear to the Ground - Romney Woos Wary Voters With Faith-Based Appeal

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Romney Woos Wary Voters With Faith-Based Appeal

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Now that rival Republican presidential hopeful (and Baptist minister) Mike Huckabee is getting traction in Iowa polls, Mitt Romney has attempted to pull a JFK by giving a speech Thursday targeting voters concerned about his Mormonism. Romney pledged that church authorities wouldn’t influence his presidential decisions, while also declaring that he endeavors to “live by” his faith and be “true to” his beliefs.

Marketwatch:

Romney said he is often asked on the campaign trail whether he believes in Jesus Christ.

“I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind,” Romney said. “My church’s beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history.”

But Romney said it would be inappropriate for him to attempt to explain the church’s doctrines in detail.

“To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution,” Romney said. “No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith, for if he becomes president, he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.”

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TAGS: candidate church huckabee iowa jesus jfk mitt romney mormon president religion republican

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By joneden, December 9, 2007 at 12:26 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

A candidate willing to cash

A candidate willing to cash in his potential support from progressives in a plea for the support of a group which is not going to give it to him indicates he may be shifted a bit distant from a reality based view of the world for my taste, but then what should one expect from another fundamentalist.

Connecting the dots: from human behaviors to ecosystem decline
http://www.StudentsForTheEarth.org

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By Lefty, December 8, 2007 at 1:32 pm #
(952 comments total)

Disgusting! Vulgar! The

Disgusting! Vulgar! The epitome of “un-American!”

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By dick, December 8, 2007 at 1:14 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

The religious fanatics running for

The religious fanatics running for office, if elected, will eagerly have us in world war three, also known as Armageddon.

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By Verne Arnold, December 8, 2007 at 5:56 am #
(494 comments total)

#118502 by RAE on 12/06

#118502 by RAE on 12/06 at 3:32 pm
(306 comments total)

It is just beyond all comprehension how any sensible, educated person these days can actually BELIEVE this complete BUNK. But they do… by the millions… and I want ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY OF THEM. They’re all mentally damaged and VERY DANGEROUS.

Yowsa, right on!

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By Verne Arnold, December 8, 2007 at 5:51 am #
(494 comments total)

I will say only this:

I will say only this: Anybody who doesn’t educate themselves about the Mormon religion deserves what they get. It is so fantastical as to be beyond all reasonable belief (my humble opinion). My question is; why would anybody believe this doctrine? The answers may just scare the pants off of you.

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By Martin, December 7, 2007 at 1:45 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I regard Romney as one

I regard Romney as one of the most dangerous men in the country or world for that matter. Seriously deluded with the self made religion, he believes in the apocalypse (any day now!) and he lies easily and shamelessly just so that he can become President. He is more intelligent that the other Republican numb nuts save Ron Paul and he knows Americans are mental midgets on average and might go for his boyish good looks. I agree more and more with Dawkins who says that just being polite and let people have their idiotic beliefs unopposed is not cutting it anymore. We need to expose the stupidity of supernatural religion everywhere we encounter it or we will drift into a new dark age.

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By Blackspeare, December 7, 2007 at 9:01 am #
(177 comments total)

Actually, not a bad speech

Actually, not a bad speech by Romney----he does have a way with words just like his religion’s founder----Joseph Smith. Wait a minute----wasn’t Joseph Smith a semi-literate convicted bunko artist whose aim was to create a “get rich” scheme through the pandering of a religious revelation? And it worked pretty good too! But then again all religions pander to the weak-minded, the fearful, and the disillusioned.

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By kevtao, December 7, 2007 at 8:58 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Romney sealed his fate with

Romney sealed his fate with the comment that he won’t let religious leaders influence decisions he makes as president. Neocon Nazi evangelicals want ABSOLUTE influence over decisions THEIR president makes. They care nothing about someone being president for all Americans.

They would rather choose rapist releaser Huckabee. He fits the evangelicals mold of hypocrisy.

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By Ruth, December 7, 2007 at 8:46 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Religion has historically been a

Religion has historically been a way for a few powerful to control the masses. Play to people’s fear of death and convince them that life is just a test for an eternal life and you can pretty much keep them in line, working and paying their taxes, receiving little joy in this life, but, halleluiah (how do you spell that?) there will be a reward in heaven if they just tow the line.

Gods were created by man who feared the dark.

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By Outraged, December 6, 2007 at 9:34 pm #
(869 comments total)

There is a great op-ed

There is a great op-ed in the New York Times regarding Romney’s speech. I never thought I would or even could say this, but here it is, I ACTUALLY AGREE WITH DAVID BROOKS ON AN ISSUE. If you knew how many times I have argued with the TV addressing his comments, much to the consternation of my nine year old, (that’s code for he thinks I’m NUTS) you’d be rolling on the floor. Anyhow, GOOD JOB David Brooks, thank you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/opinion/07brooks.html?hp

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By Rita, December 6, 2007 at 5:59 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Romney went to Texas to

Romney went to Texas to invoke the historic image of John Kennedy’s speech when he brought Catholicism into mainstream American politics. Republicans have only contempt for “godless liberals” except when it becomes convenient to parasitically attach themselves to left-wing moral legitimacy.
Romney seemingly wants to be the “new” Kennedy, an irony that shouldn’t be lost on the senior Bush who has professed a wish for his family to replace the Kennedy family as the revered symbol of American ideals.
And what about the gratuitous and indulgent media coverage of the event? No other candidate will be given such a splendid gift. But the entire theatrical was staged by the Bushes and they always get what they want. Passing the mantle on to their chosen. Was the audience packed with Mormons? Probably.

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By Thomas Billis, December 6, 2007 at 5:50 pm #
(238 comments total)

Does anyone realize how crazy

Does anyone realize how crazy this religion thing has become in American politics?Thomas Jefferson could not be elected dog catcher in America today.He was a deist.Which in the short form believes there is a supreme being but it has never been explained.Back in the founding times no one had a problem with it as he served in multiple government posts asnd was elected twice as President.I know all this bullshit about our Judea Christian founding that is being sold by these religious fanatics but Jefferson shows you how much bullshit that is.Just as, according to George Bush, Saddam killed all the Thomas Jeffersons in Iraq this religiosity is killing our chance to find Thomas Jefferson here.Wrap your mind around this thought.George Bush as lame as he is right now were he to run against Thomas Jefferson an avowed deist, George Bush would probably beat him.If the insanity of that statement does not make you wince I do not know what will.

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By BRR, December 6, 2007 at 5:17 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Romney seems to think he

Romney seems to think he is running on the Ecumenical Christian platform, not for president, but for Pope.

His idea that his god somehow specially chose and blessed the U.S. seems to conflict with the Jews view that they are the chosen but does mesh with Bush’s view that democracy is a gift from god that the US is chartered to spread to the universe, no matter how many bombs, deaths, and murders it takes.

Vote for four more years. Vote for Willard Romney

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By RAE, December 6, 2007 at 3:32 pm #
(353 comments total)

Probably a very nice man,

Probably a very nice man, intelligent, earnest, even compassionate… BUT there’s no way I ever want my country managed and directed by someone whose brain is so damaged that he actually believes that some supernatural “entity” (God) gave a “special” man a bunch of GOLDEN tablets enscribed with full operating instructions as to how to live life on this planet! How careless of “this man” to then go and actually LOSE said GOLDEN tablets!

Absolutely RIDICULOUS BALDERDASH.

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By The Village Idiot, December 6, 2007 at 12:18 pm #
(54 comments total)

Wow, what a smooth BS'er,

Wow, what a smooth BS’er, but not smooth enough!

I thank God for Romney, for verily I say unto thee that thy nation’s block of evangelicals shall be rent in two thanketh to himeth. Many fundies think of the mormon church as a cult, which it is not, and so they will never, ever vote for him (cults are just religions without political influence; go to Utah to see some mormon influence in politics). Many fundies think mormons don’t really whorship Jesus, rather some false god created by satan instead.

Also, Romney doesn’t seem to know the difference between sects and religions, it seems. Also, acknowledging that “...each religion has its own unique doctrines and history” is so NOT religious of him, seeing as how a religion is supposed to be THE truth (I’m right, you’re wrong), unless he means “we are all wrong in our own unique ways.”

And what secret bunker, sealed in the heart of the 1950’s, did they retrieve and thaw his cryogenically-preserved style from??

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Romney Woos Wary Voters With Faith-Based Appeal

Posted on Dec 6, 2007

TAGS: candidate church huckabee iowa jesus jfk mitt romney mormon president religion republican

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Comments

COMMENT TOOLS: Hide comments Show comments Comment on this article

A candidate willing to cash

Disgusting! Vulgar! The

The religious fanatics running for

#118502 by RAE on 12/06

I will say only this:

I regard Romney as one

Actually, not a bad speech

Romney sealed his fate with

Religion has historically been a

There is a great op-ed

Romney went to Texas to

Does anyone realize how crazy

Romney seems to think he

Probably a very nice man,

Wow, what a smooth BS'er,

Add Your Comment

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