Mormonism an issue for Romney in South Carolina

December 19, 2007 8:00 am henrymunsonjr Christian Right and Mormonism

David Lightman, Mormonism an issue for Romney in South Carolina, McClatchy Newspapers, 12/18/2007

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Something about Mitt Romney just isn’t right with Bill Burdette. And something about Mike Huckabee is.

“Romney’s from Utah and he’s Mormon,” said the 41-year-old software engineer from Iva, S.C. “Huckabee’s from the South and he’s Baptist.”

Understand, Burdette said, he’s not choosing his candidate based on religion, but Huckabee, a Baptist minister who was the governor of Arkansas for 10 and a half years, is someone he’s comfortable with.

That’s Romney’s problem throughout this crucial early-voting state, where a win Jan. 19 by the former Massachusetts governor would give him a huge boost in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

An estimated 63 percent of Republican primary voters in South Carolina are “born again” or evangelical Christians, so a Romney win would be hailed as dramatic proof that his Mormon faith wasn’t a big factor in voter judgments.

Except that evidence from polls and visits throughout the state shows that it is.

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