A Mormon President in '08?

Hugh raised an interesting question on his show tonight based on Terry Eastland's article in the Weekly Standard. Here's a snippet: YOU REMEMBER, OR PERHAPS you don't, Sen. Orrin Hatch's 2000 presidential campaign. The senator talks about it in soft inflections, recalling this event and that debate. But especially he talks about what motivated him to run. Hatch, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, cites polling data from 1999 suggesting that 17 percent of Americans wouldn't vote for a Mormon for president under any circumstances. "One reason I ran was to knock down the prejudicial wall that exists" against Mormons, he says. "I wanted to make it easier for the next candidate of my faith." That next candidate just might be Mitt Romney, the Republican governor of Massachusetts. It may seem too early to be talking about 2008. But George W. Bush can't run again, and, in a break from the usual pattern, the vice president, Richard Cheney, probably won't be a candidate. So the field looks wide open. And Romney is among those being mentioned in the press and GOP circles for 2008. He'd be a legitimate candidate, regardless of who else might run. But would his religion hurt him? Would he run into a prejudicial wall? Maybe, though there are reasons to think otherwise. The country could be looking at its first Mormon president--or, as Romney would prefer to put it, a president who happens to be a Mormon. Well, to quote the patron saint of this blog, "The Mormons are from Mars, Dad. We've had it checked out." But in all seriousness, do I believe 17% of Americans would vote against him simply because of his religion? Of course. What percentage of Americans believe Elvis is still alive? His religion certainly wouldn't stop me from voting for him, but the ultimate decision will be issue based not religious. For me there are two reasons behind my thinking One is I'm Catholic and I know the battles JFK had to unfairly face because of his faith. People thought the Pope would be dictating his actions or that he might govern based on his *gasp* religious principles and convictions, so I have a very, very vague concept of discrimination based on religion. Second, I've recently come to respect Mormons as a kind, misunderstood religious group. I have a rather large and distant portion of my family that's Mormon and until I sat down an visited with several of them about 9 months ago after having not seen any of them in many years, I appreciate their steadfast determination, structured lifestyle, and the depth of their beliefs. Sure I might disagree with some of their religious beliefs, but they're good people who act as good Christians toward other people. What more can you ask of a person? There are several young men who live in the area on their missions and I always stop and talk with them, and if they stop by my home I always offer them some water at the very least as they continue on their way. Mitt deserves our utmost respect. I don't know much about his political career or positions, but if he's a Republican and religiously principled that goes along way in my book.