CNN

I take exception to some of the comments of Terra. My wife is relief society president, the women's organization of the church, and she makes a lot of decisions and influences a lot of people. She tells me what to do most of the time. Because women are stronger than men in a lot of ways, the men need the advantage of leading in the Mormon church so they don't entirely get left in the dust by the women. Mitt's wife also doesn't seem to fit the mold of an oppressed woman.

Gays and lesbians can be members of the church- my neighbors are lesbians and they are members, but we do try what we can to help them see that this is not the best way to live, as much as we can, but we are friends.

Yes I believe that those who receive the word of God are gods as Jesus said in John 10:30-36. But I don't know of any Mormons who have engaged me in conversation about what the afterlife will be like- this seems to be Terra's own conception of what goes on. I also don't think that Abraham and Jacob (polygamists) are criminals. I also don't think that Isaac, who had only one wife, will be inferior to Abraham and Jacob. Trying to be like Jesus, which is what Mormons think about on the subject of becoming like God, is not a bad thing.

Also Romney used to be a governor. He was never a senator.

I'm writing this just so people know that Mormons can defend themselves and that the church isn't a fraud like some persons portray. This doesn't prove that any of this is true, but reasonable people can believe in it.

We are trying to vote for a presidential candidate who will make/keep America safe, control spending, and address America's interests at home and abroad so our children will have opportunities for a good life. Mitt Romney has demonstrated in the private sector and in the government sector an ability to lead in all those areas. Romney's religion has obviously influenced his personal choices to be honest, to work hard, to value his family more then he values a dollar. But Romney's religion has NOT played a role in governing or leading his constituents. The "Mormon Church" can not be in control of every Mormon's political decision or Harry Reid would not be the ranking Senate Democrat and Senate Orrin Hatch a leading Republican. People, Orrin Hatch voted (wrongly in my opinion) in favor of the Stem Cell Research that Governor Mitt Romney is opposed to! Does that sound like the Mormon Church tells Harry Reid, Orrin Hatch and Mitt Romney what to do? Reid, Hatch and Romney are individuals who are trying to lead this nation to the best of their abilities. I completely agree with Mitt Romney and I fully support him, not because of his chosen religion but because of his record and proven value. If Romney has changed on abortion so be it. When I was a kid I had to make a choice also. I happen to make the correct choice at a younger age the Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney said he made his choice when he first had to decide to take life for research purposes or to protect life from research requests. That seems like a good time to choose. We may say we are for capital punishment, but when our finger is on the "kill" button most of us would search our souls deeply before we flip the switch. Romney searched his soul and chose life. That decision shows me that his personal faith aligns with me. I will take the convert who chose life when the chips were down and life was on the line. So I am for Romney because his track record in business and as Governor aligns with my values. I also support Mitt Romney because he has demonstrated a great ability to analyze situation and make correct decisions. I have great confidence that Mitt Romney will carefully review every situation to protect me and our country's interest here or overseas. After watching the Katrina debacle and Boston's multibillion dollar "Big Dig Tunnel" collapse, I want Mitt Romney working to protect me. I think Boston drivers have more confidence in their tunnel ceiling then New Orlean residence have in current hurricane safeguards.

Mitt Romney is awesome and no amount of slanted media bias will change that.

Has anyone here actually looked at the mormon religion? The history? They're founding beliefs? It's not Christian. Not even close. Not that it should scare you that they believe that Jesus and Lucifer were alien brothers. He's distancing himself because it's an embarrassing although very rich crowd. Google it, YOUTUBE it, whatever just look beneath the surface and you'll see why everyone is making it a big deal. Be informed and then leave your comments next time. By the way, separation of church and state keeps the churches' money out of the government's hands. It's not for any other reason. The church elites wanted it that way. Hell, even Homer Simpson knows that.

One of the primary reasons that Romney isn't in the lead in the national polls (but leads soundly in Iowa and New Hampshire) is because this is the garbage our national media pays attention to. Brownback's campaign is dead. He has no money. His only way to get attention at this point it to attack a man running a far better campaign than he.

It's a shame, as Romney has expressed some truly great ideas and talks policy more than any candidate on either side of the aisle. His healthcare plans was revolutionary in Mass. It still needs some work, but it even includes a clause that doesn't FORCE you buy health insurance (just have money in an interest bearing account that the state can access if you decide to skip out on your bills). He addresses the issues most urgent if the US is going to compete with the 21st-century. It amazes me, for instance, that our nation prides itself on capitalism when our corporate taxation rate is lower than ONLY Germany and Canada. No wonder businesses are going overseas... And are you ever going to hear a guy like Obama or like Brownback addressing the shortage of engineers produced in this country and how than affects our industry? Yeah, right...

The man is articulate, speaks well on his feet, knows his foreign policy, and has lived a life of family. He's aboslutely the guy I want to see leading this nation.

Monica from Salt Lake City is absolutely right. The Mormon Church runs everything in the theocratic state of Utah.

They're so devious that they even got Rocky Anderson - an alcohol-guzzling, hard Left, ex-Mormon ACLU lawyer - "elected" mayor of Salt Lake City.

You go, Iowa! Show the rest of the country who's best to lead the US. Mitt Romney is the man and you guys get to the stage first. Comments about vacationing with the dog, are you kidding? He didn't have air conditioning. My my, showing your age and naivity. Most people in the world did not grow up with air conditioning and we seem to be fine. That dog was safer on the top of the car in the carrier than he would have been riding in the car. And you can't imagine that either, I bet.

As much as the campaign for Senator Romney would like to separate his religion from his potential role as President of the United States, there are several serious concerns that need to be addressed.

Although most of the focus of Romney’s Mormon religious beliefs have revolved around the abortion issue (and how he flip-flopped after using the pro-choice position for political gain in the very liberal state of Massachusetts), there are many other extremely important other factors that should also be considered.

Mormon’s do not allow women to hold any office of power or decision. They are not believed to have the power to heal, nor do they even have the right to give public blessings, baptisms, or any other religious role. How can Romney be a strong member of this church and its beliefs, and at the same time fight for equality of women in the work place, our schools and in our government? If he believes in the Mormon Church’s position that the woman’s role is in the home, how will he support and view all of the women who hold very powerful positions in the White House and around the world?

Mormons believe that being gay is a sin, and gay and lesbians are not allowed to become members of the Mormon faith. How can he, as a strong member of this church and its beliefs, resolve this issue to provide fairness in his obligations to the gay and lesbian community? His argument has been that he fought for gay rights as Senator, but he flip-flopped, and in the end, made sure that gay marriage remained illegal in the state of Massachusetts. He did the same thing with this issue as the abortion issue: he used an initial liberal position for political gain only. In the Mormon faith, abortion is a considered a sin so abominable that it is worthy of member excommunication. It would seem impossible for him to be bipartisan on these issues given his strong religious opposition to them.

Mormon’s believe that in the after-life, husbands and wives become gods and goddesses, where men take on more than one wife in order to produce more celestial spirit children, and to also compensate for the inequity in the smaller number of men who achieve exaltation to the highest kingdom of heaven. How does Romney, as a strong member of the Mormon Church and its beliefs, resolve this with the fact that here on earth, polygamy is considered criminal? How will he resolve, as president of the United States, the vast differences between the laws governing our country from the contradictory laws that govern the heaven he believes in?

So I pose the question to Senator Romney personally – how do you expect voters to separate your religion from your campaign when your religion is actively fighting against everything our country has found so very hard to achieve? How can you realistically say you truly support the foundation of what our country was built upon – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – when your faith takes away rights from women, gays and lesbians and even from the majority?

So Mickelson agrees with Mormon doctrine? He's a Mormon maybe, or just really wants to be but is scared? Mr. Romney is for real, I can appreciate that. We'll get our tax dollars worth with him GO MITT!

Anyone who insults Romney because of his faith is a bigot.

You are the SAME as those who hate Lieberman because he is a “Jew”, Obama because he is “Black”, JFK because he was “Catholic”, etc.

Or does YOUR America no longer have freedom of religion?
Posted By Jon, Sacramento ~ Ca : August 7, 2007 12:15 pm
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Jon, I've read a lot of what you have posted on various threads here, and disagreed with almost all of it, but I have to give you credit for this one- you've hit the nail squarely on the head.

I am tired of hearing people, as well as media, bring up Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith – let’s move on with it already – he’s got a lot more other great qualities that we, as nation, can discuss (i.e. experienced great leader (I am the witness from MA), super intelligent, prudent, pro-life, pro-family (he supported people’s petition here in MA to define marriage as union between one man and one woman), morally stable, one with family values and married with five children as opposed to other candidates with long lists of former wives, … and good looking. What else can we ask for? For those that see Mitt Romney “flip-flopping” on issues such as abortion and gay marriage I have to say this: his is a great testimony, especially for Christian, as the one that seeks – shall find, and the one that asks for – shall receive. He himself said that he came to this conclusion after hard thinking and long meditation.

Posted By Val Davydov, Agawam, MA : August 6, 2007 11:20 pm

I agree wholeheartedly with you...I am LDS, and this constant bringing up of Mitt Romney being "Mormon" or LDS is starting to irritate alot of us. He chose a faith, just as many in the US and other countries have chosen. There are Catholics, Methodists, Buhddists, Jewish, and goodness knows what else out there nowindays.

I'm tired of this becoming Faith based...what should matter is that he believes in God...and this country.

VOTE ROMNEY!!!!! I personally will be at the Iowa Straw Poll and hope to see everyone else there!

Jacob from Upland,
Yeah, I actually started shaking my head when I read that. I'm glad someone else pointed it out. Seriously, shameful reporting. CNN doesn't even try to hide their bias, do they?

I really don't know what the big issue is about Romney's faith. I guess the same people that de-ride Romney about his faith are the ones that didn't like JFK because he was a Catholic or like Lieberman because he's a Jew.

What I find most interesting is the evangelicals that dislike the Jews so much fail to recognize that in order for them to have their beloved Rapture & Ends of Days, they'll need the Jews to reclaim Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of Solomon.

Monica,SLC UT wrote:
"He may claim he’s not running as a Mormon, but Mormon he IS, and if he ends up in the White House, you can bet church leadership will be constantly bending and whispering in his ear. It’s what controls politics in Utah."

People said similar things about Kennedy, Catholicism and the Pope in 1960. Did the Pope ever "whisper" in Kennedy's ear? If he did, the country certainly didn't know about it.

It's good for our leaders to have a moral framework - whether through organized religion or not. It's bad when the people won't take our leaders seriously because of misconceptions they may have about a candidate's religious beliefs.

Separate church and state and think about what is best for yourself and your country, not how you can attack someone based on their faith.

My concern is that Romney flipped on a position to cater to a group that has truly hurt our nation in the last 8 years. It's okay to say that you support the free will of women to choose what happens to them and their bodies, while still opposing abortion.

There doesn't need to be a law against abortion - there needs to be equality for women in the home, the workplace, and society in general so that no woman will ever choose to have an abortion again.

Mitt Romney is a "great candidate" to run against in 2008. He will prove to be the Republican version of John Kerry.

Anyone who insults Romney because of his faith is a bigot.

You are the SAME as those who hate Lieberman because he is a "Jew", Obama because he is "Black", JFK because he was "Catholic", etc.

Or does YOUR America no longer have freedom of religion?

Mitt Romney is a great candidate hands down. As is Ron Paul, as is Obama, as is Edwards. Let's not focus on his faith for crying out loud. And people are buffoons to think his church leadership will have his ear. his principles will dictate his actions not the LDS leaders. Nice to see he totally outclassed this Mickelson.

Romney's "the man!". Get used to the name of our next president! Mitt Romney!

If you haven't watched the whole interview, it is excellent. Romney showed great composure as he trounced Jan Michelson on each issue. Jan Michelson showed no class in assuming because he had some pamphlet, manual or something that he knew more about Romney's church than Romney did. Even when the conversation got heated Romney could very easily express emotion, then quickly jump to a logical argument. Excellent job!

I can't get over Jan Michelson trying to tell Romney that he should be kicked out of the Mormon church for being pro-choice in the past. What an imbecile!

Now this promises to be the Albatross around his neck. How does a candidate run a campaign and "not" have it in some part be about his faith? I can see where being a Latter-day Saint can be a hinderance to someone in politics when there are so many restrictions put on one from the church. But if Sen. Reid can get to be the senate majority leader then I suppose there is some hope left for Romney. But Reid only has to answer to the people in Utah where Romney will be asking for support from across the country to be president. That I fear is where he will find it much more difficult.

Telling it like I see it,
Wynter

Hasn't anyone caught on yet! They (politicians) all lie, all mangle the truth, twist the tale, tweak the answer, to whatever audience they are addressing . . . it's all a sham – and America has fallen for it. We have no more people of integrity – they cannot afford to run – not because they do not have the money. Simply because they cannot afford to be castigated and discounted for their higher values – usually by the very people whom they call fellow candidates.
I feel for Mr. Romney – he probably was an honest man at one time, who let the sway of politics blur his sense of integrity. Now he is just a politician. Let the lies continue and continue and continue, ad nauseam. And unfortunately, let America continue to believe and believe and believe. Unbelievable . . .

All these attacks on Mitt Romney are indicative of his campaign's strength. People attack what they perceive as a threat to their own aspirations, and Mitt Romney truly is a powerful force amongst conservative voters.

Romney truly is the best choice for conservative voters given his personal practice of conservative values. Look at his life and the family he has raised, and that should tell you A LOT about how much he believes in his conservative message.

If Brownback thinks he is more conservative than Romney for being pro-life longer than Romney, then I can only assume that Brownback feels Reagan was a terrible conservative as well....because Reagan was pro-choice at one point as well.

I am tired of hearing people, as well as media, bring up Mitt Romney's Mormon faith – let's move on with it already – he's got a lot more other great qualities that we, as nation, can discuss (i.e. experienced great leader (I am the witness from MA), super intelligent, prudent, pro-life, pro-family (he supported people's petition here in MA to define marriage as union between one man and one woman), morally stable, one with family values and married with five children as opposed to other candidates with long lists of former wives, ... and good looking. What else can we ask for? For those that see Mitt Romney "flip-flopping" on issues such as abortion and gay marriage I have to say this: his is a great testimony, especially for Christian, as the one that seeks – shall find, and the one that asks for – shall receive. He himself said that he came to this conclusion after hard thinking and long meditation.

This is news? I think no one's commented on this because the post is so convoluted its hard to tell what its really about. Is it about Romney's heated interview? Is it another post about the Brownback spat? Is it about the Iowa straw poll? It doesn't seem to present any evidence that Romney is "pumping up the volume" as the title would suggest. I'm sorry CNN, with this and the post about Giuliani's daughter, its been a rough day at the ticker for you guys.

The Republican candidates are very emotional and childish, if this is all they can bicker about. It is time to support Obama or Edwards, who are talking about real issues everyday.

I'm glad to see Mitt take the gloves off once in awhile. I have leaned toward him for some time, but I used to worry that his incessant gentility could become a liability in these perilous times. I'm thrilled that he's willing to roll up his sleeves when necessary.

Mitt Romney is Right! A Real Conservative would support the Separation of Church and State! But Religion has been such a Winning Political Issue for Republicans even better than Racism. If your religion equals greed, power, lies, war and corruption, then just give a Big Amen to Bush and Chaney, Hallelujah! Since the Republicans don’t really support any social and humanitarian issues that they actually support, they have to campaign based upon who or who can PRETEND to be a good Christian.

Dog Strapper and Chief?

He'll have us strapped to the roof of his station wagon going 80 down the interstate just like he did with his cocker spaniel before you can say "John Smith carved the Golden Tablets of Mormon in his basement."

I'd rather vote for an athiest than for anyone poisoned by organized religion.

“I’m not running as a Mormon, and I get a little tired of coming on a show like yours and having it all about Mormon,” Romney replied.

“See, I don’t mind about it being all about that,” Mickelson explained.

“I do. I do,” responded Romney, who’s hoping to become the first Mormon elected President of the United States.

You just have to rub it in his face, don't you? He just said he resents it, and CNN turns around and throws a line like that (see bold) in. That's shameful.

Here comes the dog strapper and chief Mit Romney. Can we really trust a dude who straps his cocker spaniel to the roof of his station wagon for a 12 hour trip on an interstate HWY family trip into Ontario?

It was all documented in a documentary on the man in the late 80's. There wasn't room in the car with his family and all their stuff so he strapped the dog carrier to the roof of the car, in the searing summer heat, doing like 80mph the whole way. the dog got so scared

Recently when it came up he even had the nerve to state that the dog really actually liked it...

I'm not making this up, I swear. It's documented. This guy is so out of touch with reality he'd strap his dog to his car roof on the freeway, what do you think he'd do to the country?

I'll tell you what, we'd be the dog hanging on for dear life, ears flappin' in the wind, while he was behind the wheel doing 90mph, singing hymns or something.

Sheesh.

He may claim he's not running as a Mormon, but Mormon he IS, and if he ends up in the White House, you can bet church leadership will be constantly bending and whispering in his ear. It's what controls politics in Utah.