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Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper
Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.
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The candidate of Latter-Day Saints
December 03, 2007 9:48 AM
Former Bush White House aid Dan Bartlett was blunt.
Speaking of the GOP field, Bartlett praised Mitt Romney for having "the best strategy ad organization."
But there was a big "but."
"I think the Mormon issue is a real problem in the South," Bartlett said. "It's a real problem in other parts of the country, but people are not going to say it. People are not going to step out and say, 'I have a problem with Romney because he's Mormon.' What they're going to say is he is a flip flopper."
This has clearly been a concern for the Romney camp, especially as former Arkansas Gov. -- and Baptist preacher -- Mike Huckabee rises in the polls in Iowa, beating Romney among evangelicals by a two-to-one margin, and running an ad about his Protestant faith in which he proclaims himself a "Christian leader." (Watch that ad HERE).
Romney's campaign announced Sunday that the candidate will deliver a speech to address the matter of his faith on Thursday, as John Berman reports. Lots of pundits are already comparing this to John F. Kennedy's fabled September 1960 speech to Protestant ministers in Houston.
But how appropriate are the comparisons, really? And was that JFK speech everything it has come to symbolize 47 years later?
Read more on that HERE.
What say you?
- jpt
December 3, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (5)
Thank you for your great analytical piece on the parallels and differences between Gov. Romney's position and President Kennedy's position concerning their religious beliefs. I previously thought that these questions were settled decisively with JFK's speech in 1960; now, I realize that they're no more settled today then they were then. The closing line in your analysis rings true more so today than ever before: if a candidate is making an issue of his beliefs, members of the Fourth Estate have every right and responsibility to continue asking questions about it. Great companion piece to your reporting!
Posted by: chuck | Dec 3, 2007 3:47:29 PM
Mike Huckabee looks like a real nice guy but he's beginning to sound like someone running on religious values. I don't think religious people can be trusted to make good judgments as demonstrated by the current occupant of the White House and the voters who put him there. Having religion does something to your brain, starving it of the logic you need to face the world as it is, not as you believe it to be against all evidence.
Posted by: Jose C | Dec 3, 2007 2:35:23 PM
I think the Government needs a complete overhaul. Mike Huckabee may be a social conservative but was a fiscal liberal. I'm sticking with Mitt Romney because of his ability to succeed organizationally and fiscally. I don't see him as a flip-flopper but rather as someone who did what he needed to win in liberal Massachusettes. Any conservative would have done the same. Or should we just concede certain states? Hmm maybe that's what Mitt should have done.
Posted by: Scott R. | Dec 3, 2007 10:53:31 AM
I am a small business owner and I am very frightened by our current government and its fleecing of Americans.
I believe that we need to get the fat out of government. Get term limits.Get rid of the IRS (Fair Tax) and the 16th amendment. Get back to what our forefathers wanted for this Great Country!
Posted by: ali | Dec 3, 2007 10:14:38 AM
I personally find it thrilling to see so many viable candidates still in this presidential race. This is one of the things that makes our country so great--the people have a voice!
I am also thrilled to see Iowa and the rest of the nation embracing the candidacy of Mike Huckabee. People are starting to realize that Mike Huckabee's appeal is far broader than his religious base.
If Mike Huckabee's message has touched you or caused you to reconsider the issues, I would encourage you to take my challenge
With your help, he will make a difference!
Posted by: ILikeMike | Dec 3, 2007 9:58:04 AM
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