Romney to give speech on ‘Faith in America’
By JOHN DISTASO
Senior Political Reporter
Manchester – Mitt Romney said yesterday he will not try to defend or explain his Mormonism during his “Faith in America” speech on Thursday. He insisted the speech is not directly connected to questions raised about his religion by evangelicals in early voting states Iowa and South Carolina.
“I don’t know that even at this stage that my faith is a significant factor in my race,” the Republican former Massachusetts governor told reporters after an economic talk to the Manchester Rotary Club at the downtown Chateau Restaurant. “I just don’t think in the final analysis it will be the deciding factor.
“But I do believe … that faith in America is an important topic and there’s a lot of different views about faith in America,” he said. He said separation of church and state “is a topic of significance that a presidential candidate ought to take advantage of addressing and that’s why I’m doing it.”
Romney’s membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has not been a significant issue in New Hampshire, where Republican-leaning voters are generally more focused on non-religious issues such as national security, taxes and spending. However, last month voters in the Granite State and Iowa reportedly received anonymous phone calls raising questions about Romney’s Mormonism as well as other issues.
Romney has consistently led in New Hampshire polls. But in first-caucus state Iowa, he has seen his lead in the polls narrowed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister who has been attracting broad support among evangelicals and has been trying to court that vote with a television ad calling himself a “Christian leader.”
