I’ve long contended that despite his blatant political flip-flops and turning himself into a virtual poster boy for craven political pandering former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney would have a far easier time of it — and in closing the political sale — if he was not a Mormon in today’s Republican Party. And a new poll seems to back me up:
A new poll that gauges Americans’ views of the Mormon faith served up difficult news for the nation’s highest profile member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 24 percent of people it surveyed expressed a negative view of the religion, with white evangelical Protestants most likely to characterize Mormonism as “non-Christian.”
That a key part of the GOP base is squeamish about Romney’s faith suggests that his toughest days as a candidate may be right now — during the Republican nominating contest.
A Pew analysis, however, says that the former Massachusetts governor’s religion won’t have major at-the-polls implications if he wins his party’s nomination and runs against President Obama next fall.
Why?
Those most uncomfortable with Romney’s religion are also the most motivated to remove Obama from the White House, Pew found. And just 8 percent of all Republican and Republican-leaning voters said the Romney’s religion makes them less likely to vote for him.
But the details of the survey paint a more complicated electoral picture for Romney, and for any Mormon candidate, including former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, also seeking the GOP nomination.
And here are some highlights from the poll:
A third of Republicans polled said that Mormonism is not a Christian religion.
Two-thirds of Americans say they believe the faith is “very different” from their own beliefs.
Those who expressed a negative view of Mormonism used words like “cult” and “strange” to describe it.
And, despite Romney’s campaign for the GOP’s 2008 presidential nomination, which included a speech about his faith, Pew found that there has been no change in Americans’ impressions of Mormonism over the past four years.
Is anti-Mormonism now one of the few religious “anti” where the word “bigotry” gets a pass by many?
If so, Romney has his work cut ouf for him part from any positive points scored by Newt Gingrich or any of the other Republican anti-Romneys…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.