Posted on 01/04/2008 3:31:58 AM PST by Zakeet
DES MOINES - Bested in Iowa by rival Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney headed to New Hampshire late Thursday hoping to look beyond the sharp setback aided by a large evangelical turnout.
"Well, we won the silver," Romney, the former head of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, told a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters who had hoped for a victory party.
But, Romney added, like anyone who doesn't win at their first Olympics, "you come back and win the gold in the final event."
Romney's campaign pointed to initial results showing large crowds at caucuses in strong evangelical areas as part of their loss to Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister. But they camp stayed away from blaming the loss on Romney's Mormon faith, which polls have shown may be a concern with evangelical voters, some of whom who view the LDS Church as heretical.
"I would disagree with any assessment that it was about denomination," campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said when asked whether Romney's Mormon faith affected the race. "What you have is a lot of voters who are evangelicals who identified with someone who is also an evangelical."
[Snip}
Some 45 percent of Huckabee's vote came from those who described themselves as "born again," according to news media entrance polls, and Huckabee won 55 percent of those people who said religion mattered a "great deal." Romney only got 19 percent of the born-again votes and only 12 percent of those who said they cared a great deal about religion. "It is not clear that all of the Huckabee votes were anti-Mormon, but it is plausible that Romney's faith posed a problem for him," says John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Center for Religion and Public Life.
(Excerpt) Read more at origin.sltrib.com ...
Don’t the evangelicals understand that Joseph Smith was supposedly told by God and Jesus that all the other churches were wrong? Don’t they understand that the Book of Mormon certainly teaches that the Mormon church is the church of the Lamb of God and all the other churches are the great and abominable church of the devil? Why would this offend them into not voting for former LDS Stake President Mitt Romney?
I’m being sarcastic ;) But you should see what the choir at mormonapologetics were saying last night. Oh my ... they are bitter and angry with Huck.
I think it’s largely his over-polished persona, but I also don’t think you can rule out Mormonism as a factor. It’s not *the* reason he lost, but I’m pretty sure it was *a* reason.
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that NOBODY had over 100,000 votes?
A television test pattern has more ratings.
Oh give me a break!
This whole Evangelical vs Mormon thing is a media contrivance to split the Republicans and open the door for any liberal!
I thought we were beyond the days when the media controlled our elections. I guess having the early contests right after the holidays (when nobody is watching) allows big news stories to sway the public instead of prudent examination of candidate standings.
Huckabee wins because he is getting the latest headlines (positive) while Romney keeps getting questioned about his religion (more than they did to JFK).
Thompson, Hunter, etc get very little attention so nobody shows up for them.
The media is trying to position McCain for New Hampshire.
STOP LETTING THE MEDIA LEAD YOU BY YOUR NOSE!
No... it’s because HE IS A LIAR!!!
I think the article is an attempt to portray Republicans as bigots.
Seriously, Doesn’t a search for a CONSERVATIVE candidate count? Romney is a lib from a lib state. Anyone sounding like a conservative is going to siphon off vote from Mitt.
People don’t want to believe this matters. This matters. Come down to Texas and talk to die-hard Republican voters who go to church. They will not vote for Romney.
Degaston: “Why would this offend them into not voting for former LDS Stake President Mitt Romney?”
Many FReepers, myself included, thought Romney’s religion was irrelevant. We saw him as a liberal, flip-flopping, slickster who was willing to say anything to get elected. However, it’s true that most Christian denominations consider Mormonism a cult. Given Iowa, it’s no stretch to think many evangelicals who vote for Huckabee largely because he’s a Christian also oppose Romney mostly because he’s a Mormon.
Ah yes. Those welcoming arms of Christendom....
This whole Evangelical vs Mormon thing is a media contrivance to split the Republicans and open the door for any liberal!
I thought we were beyond the days when the media controlled our elections. I guess having the early contests right after the holidays (when nobody is watching) allows big news stories to sway the public instead of prudent examination of candidate standings.
“Huckabee wins because he is getting the latest headlines (positive) while Romney keeps getting questioned about his religion (more than they did to JFK).
Thompson, Hunter, etc get very little attention so nobody shows up for them.
The media is trying to position McCain for New Hampshire.
STOP LETTING THE MEDIA LEAD YOU BY YOUR NOSE!”
I AGREE!!!
Fred speaks in a vacuum. This is the new strategy by the MSM. The MSM will simply not allow the Conservative voice to be heard. They are now using propaganda to disenfranchise our wing (i.e., Fred is going to withdraw from the race if he does not get 2nd place!)
I will rarely tune in to Chrissy’s or Keith’s show to monitor what the enemy is up to. Shocking.... Shocking I tell you. Talk about Liberal Fascists!!!!
The fact that Romney’s liberal record was exposed for a longer period of time also played a part. While, Huckabee is almost as big a lib on many issues, he hasn’t been under scrutiny that long. And one thing I’ve learned talking to friends and co-workers about this election is, that many people still couldn’t tell you where the candidates stand on particular issues. More importantly most people are still unaware of the candidates records on particular issues.
After being in a room last and voting, I always find it really funny to hear media from out of state tell me how my fellow Iowans think.
The media’s job is to write something, so they come up with a story angle and go with it.
People didn’t vote for Romney, despite his large amount of $$ and organization; because they see him as being less than forthright. Nothing more..
Udall was nowhere near a racist and had criticized the Church for it's racism. He had stopped attending services for that reason. It does have an impact.
I sometimes get the impression that some of those complaining about inconsistencies in Romney's stories about his father marching with Martin Luther King would be happy to brag about their fathers marching with Bull Connor.
There is no doubt in my mind that the MSM have aggressively and openly alligned themselves with the Dims, and will do almost anything to railroad a viable Republican candidacy.
I see torches and smoke and smell the acrid odor of cordite in the air. The rebellion against the liberal domination of the media, academia, and government bureaucracy is getting nearer and nearer. It will not be a pretty sight.
Now that the media’s creation, B. Hussein Obambi, has won Iowa they feel their plan is working. The adoration and adulation they are getting ready to dump on this empty suit will be even more nauseating than what we’ve seen thus far.
Mitts on Fox now yapping about his faith
We have the Massachusetts defense, and now comes the Mormon defense.
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