Official Romney for President Exploratory Committee Thread

[Babs]

Romney standing up to the RR:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...ge-pledge.html

[byu71]

I don't really buy this simplification of things - I've been pretty critical of Romney on a lot of fronts and he's struck some egregiously cynical political poses - but why do we pretend people can't change their minds?

Shouldn't new data and persuasive arguments result in people changing their minds?

Reagan changed his about a bunch of things. I've changed my mind on plenty of issues over the years, ranging from drug legalization to the death penalty - why is it so terrible when public figures change their minds?

Again, I understand that some of Romney's moves have been transparent - but some of them also have sensible narratives around them.

Anyway.... Reid is FOS.

True. Name me a very successful politician who does not have his career littered with flip flops.

[NorthwestUteFan]

True. Name me a very successful politician who does not have his career littered with flip flops.

I would suggest that any politician who does NOT change his opinion in the face of overwhelming evidence contrary to his position would be derided as rigidly dogmatic and inflexible, and may even appear to be unintelligent.

A well-timed mea culpa can be a great weapon for a politician, particularly if exercised prior to an opponent exploiting the weakness.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Romney standing up to the RR:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...ge-pledge.html

Good for him. He should distance himself from those types of pledges.

While he was governor he did not support gay marriage*, but actively pushed FOR domestic partnership status (which would be effectively the same as common-law marriage).

*IIRC he was upset that gay marriage was made legal in MASS through a 3-2 decision by the Supreme Judicial Court and not through the legislative process. A constitutional amendment AGAINST gay marriage passed on a referendum, but the Speaker refused to allow it to be brought to a vote in the next congress, which effectively killed the bill (constitutional amendments in Mass have to be passed by TWO consecutive congresses). Then the SJC came up with their extraordinarily narrow 3-2 decision, and the precedent was set.

[Babs]

Rick Perry announces today that he's increasingly convinced that he's "been called" to run for the presidency.

[Uncle Ted]

According to 'Fox & Friends' the fact that Romney is 'obviously not a christian' helps Perry. Good thing FoxNews cleared that up.

[Babs]

According to 'Fox & Friends' the fact that Romney is 'obviously not a christian' helps Perry. Good thing FoxNews cleared that up.

You can rephrase it however you want, but the essence of the statement is pretty much indisputable.

[Uncle Ted]

The LDS church is preparing to clear up any potential misunderstandings about concerning Romney and Huntsman and their faith...

Mormons Duck Political Duel

By JONATHAN WEISMAN

SALT LAKE CITY—The Mormon Church is preparing for the 2012 elections with a campaign message of its own: It has nothing to do with orchestrating or promoting the presidential candidacies of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr., both Mormons.

On Thursday, the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, a group of Mormon academics who defend the faith, will wrestle with the challenges presented by the two presidential candidates.

"We not only don't want to cross the line" between religion and politics, Michael Purdy, director of the church's media relations office, said in an interview at church headquarters here. "We don't want to go anywhere near the line."

And that means being actively apolitical. In contrast to its relatively quiescent approach in 2008 when Mr. Romney ran for president, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is going on the offensive, aiming to swiftly counter anti-Mormon political arguments and push back against what it considers unfair portrayals of the faith.

"We now have two Latter Day Saints running, and the potential for misunderstanding or missteps is therefore twice what it was before," Michael Otterson, the LDS's managing director for public affairs, said. Earlier this month, Mr. Otterson used a blog post to challenge opponents who label the LDS a "cult"—even before that charge had surfaced.

Mr. Romney's campaign aides said neither the candidate nor the campaign would comment. Neither would Mr. Huntsman, aides said.

Already, the church said it has reined in the participation of officials in political campaigns and reshuffled a public advertising campaign to avoid appearing to interfere in politics. Church officials now monitor the Internet, television broadcasts and print publications daily to sniff out even a hint that anti-Mormonism is entering the 2012 campaign.

U.S. politics, long dominated by Protestants of one stripe or another, has been transformed with Catholics, evangelicals and Jews competing for the highest offices. The campaigns of two Mormons is further evidence that presidential politics has caught up with the diversity of religious life in America. A recent poll by Public Policy Polling in Utah, the center of Mormon life, shows Mr. Romney with a commanding lead, 85% to 11%, over Mr. Huntsman among Mormons likely to vote in the state's Republican primary next year.

The church is tracked by diehard critics who denounce its theology, history and politics. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 36% of voters said they are somewhat or entirely uncomfortable with voting for a Mormon, a number topped only by an atheist or a Muslim. Obedience oaths Mormons take to the LDS's leader, considered a living prophet, continue to rouse suspicion in some circles over "divided loyalties," akin to the questions faced by John F. Kennedy Jr., a Catholic, during his presidential run.

Republican White House hopeful Herman Cain told the Washington Times last month Mr. Romney can't win the nomination because his religion "is an issue with a lot of southerners."

The Mormon Church has been entangled in politics since its inception. The founding prophet, Joseph Smith, was murdered during a dark-horse campaign for the presidency. Early efforts to organize Mormons into voting blocks, first in Missouri and then Illinois, incited the wrath of non-Mormons.

After LDS Founding Father Brigham Young led his followers to the Salt Lake basin, church leaders organized the Utah territory into two political parties, the People's Party for Mormons and the Liberal Party for non-Mormons. They were dissolved in the late 1880s when church political power was becoming an impediment to statehood.

"They are well aware of the history of the church, its ups and downs, bumps and bruises, from being involved in politics," said Craig Foster, a devout Mormon, research consultant at the church's Family History Library and co-author of "The Mormon Quest for the Presidency."

Four years ago, church leaders fielded questions from the media but did little beyond issuing press releases in response to anti-Mormon outbreaks. Mr. Romney's campaign was confronted by anonymous fliers labeling his faith "a politically dangerous religion." Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee asked a reporter, "Don't Mormons believe Jesus and the devil are brothers?"—a question for which he later apologized.

The LDS still gets involved in politics, most recently helping finance efforts to pass a proposition in California banning gay marriage. But church leaders today say they distinguish between issues of morality and of political partisanship, and have embarked on an aggressive public campaign to convince Americans of that point.

In May, journalist Warren Cole Smith published a long treatise on why a vote for Mr. Romney would be a vote for the Mormon Church. Mr. Smith's essay was on the relatively obscure evangelical website Patheos. The Washington Post's religion section published the church's response.

The 1,350-word letter strenuously denied the church had any political interests in the 2012 campaign. Noting that Sens. Orrin Hatch and Harry Reid, former Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, and Bureau of Indian Affairs chief Larry Echo Hawk are all Mormons in government, Mr. Otterson, the LDS public affairs chief, asked: "Who decides, Warren, that one religion is acceptable and another 'false and dangerous'? Do you?"

On July 3, LDS leaders posted an edict on its official website instructing permanent employees of the Mormon Church and their wives to stay out of presidential politics. The edict precluded all "general authorities and general officers of the Church and their spouses" from campaigning and fundraising.

The blanket prohibition directly affects about 400 people—general church officers, senior ecclesiastical leaders, mission presidents, women in the "general auxiliary presidencies" and temple presidents—Mr. Otterson said. It is likely to pinch the fundraising base of both Mr. Romney and Mr. Huntsman.

Five days later, church officials jumped on a Fox TV station in Memphis after it aired a mocking news broadcast in which a reporter asked people on the street if they knew Mr. Romney believed the Garden of Eden is in Missouri (the LDS does indeed believe the Garden of Eden was near present-day Independence, Mo.).

After the piece aired, church authorities demanded the station broadcast their point of view. They were especially angered because the channel originally had given that task to a Mormon splinter group in Missouri that broke with central church authorities 170 years ago.

The Memphis station is owned by News Corp., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. A spokeswoman said the station granted Memphis LDS Stake President Steven Dorian air time to respond, which he did.

For about a year, the church has been running its "I am a Mormon" public ad campaign attesting to the diversity of its membership. Designed to challenge the stereotype of Mormons as straight-laced and white, it has featured a Chinese-American unicyclist, a Hawaiian surfer and a motorcycle sculptor for Harley Davidson.

Although church officials said the timing of the campaign was coincidental, they acknowledged featuring upbeat image boosters in early primary states this fall could lead to accusations that the LDS is trying to boost the Mormon candidates.

Church officials said the fall ad buys aren't final, but they will steer clear of states where they deem political sentiment to be most sensitive, such as Iowa and South Carolina. "We know people will draw the wrong conclusions," Mr. Otterson said.

* The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms.

[Flattop]

Obedience oaths Mormons take to the LDS's leader, considered a living prophet, continue to rouse suspicion in some circles over "divided loyalties," akin to the questions faced by John F. Kennedy Jr., a Catholic, during his presidential run.

"Obedience oaths"? What the hell is he talking about?

[Shaka]

You can rephrase it however you want, but the essence of the statement is pretty much indisputable.

I think I'm a Christian therefore I am Christian.

Well that and my Jesus can beat up your Jesus.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Borderline Divine]

I would suggest that any politician who does NOT change his opinion in the face of overwhelming evidence contrary to his position would be derided as rigidly dogmatic and inflexible, and may even appear to be unintelligent.

A well-timed mea culpa can be a great weapon for a politician, particularly if exercised prior to an opponent exploiting the weakness.

It would seem that Romney runs into a lot more "overwhelming evidence" than many other candidates. And that evidence seems to point pretty hard to the right every time.

[LA Ute]

An interesting story to follow:

Report: PAC for Mitt Romney lands dubious $1M

This is the bio of the lawyer who set the mysterious company up:

http://m.ropesgray.com/cameroncasey/

She's only a 7th-year associate. Clearly she was doing the work at the behest of a partner and now she's at the center of a national news media storm. I hope she's enjoying that.

[Borderline Divine]

Now it appears there are two Utah based companies who did the same thing for Mitt. In a shocking development they are MLM related and based in Provo.

http://www.fox13now.com/news/local/k...,4424937.story

[Moliere]

Now it appears there are two Utah based companies who did the same thing for Mitt. In a shocking development they are MLM related and based in Provo.

http://www.fox13now.com/news/local/k...,4424937.story

Looks like it's a good time to join Mitts downline...

[wuapinmon]

http://www.breitbart.tv/maher-on-nbc...-christianity/