Romney answers the Mormon question
Posted: Saturday, November 10, 2007 4:53 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ’s Erin McPikeHOLDERNESS, NH --
Romney’s Mormon faith has been something of a bane to him over the course of the primary season, but he told voters at a house party this afternoon that his advisers are opposed to the idea that he should give a speech like John F.
Kennedy did in 1960 to address his Catholicism -- despite the fact that he said he likes the idea of doing it.
Nevertheless, he said before an intimate gathering of well-to-do Republicans that at some point, he may make the highly anticipated speech.
“I’m happy to answer any questions people have about my faith and do so pretty regularly,” he said. “Is there going to be a special speech? Perhaps at some point -- I certainly like the idea myself, but the political advisers tell me, ‘No, no, no, it’s not a good idea. It draws too much attention to that issue alone.’”
Spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom wrote in an e-mail to reporters after: “There's nothing new on whether Governor Romney is going to give a religion speech. There's certainly nothing to suggest that his religion is holding him back, judging by the polling in the early states, including South Carolina. Time will tell if it ever becomes necessary.”
Romney went on to say no final decision has been made on whether or not he will broach the issue with a major address, but he did preview what such an event might include. He said that he wouldn’t take his directions from anyone else -- “just like John Kennedy said he’s not going to do what the Pope told him to do.” He added: “And it wouldn’t make sense for me to turn to my church and ask them, ‘Well, what do you think we ought to do on stem cell research or the war in Iraq or anything else?’ The answer is no.”
But he did acknowledge that his faith does inform his values. Earlier in the day at his New Hampshire headquarters, a supporter also inquired about how his faith is coming into play and why the media is making such a big deal about it. Romney responded that he was proud of his faith and added, “I’m not going to back away an inch or a quarter-inch from my own faith.”
Here's what he said in full:"Well you know actually, it was interesting, I was on TV not last Sunday, but the Sunday before," Romney said, "and Bob Schieffer asked me a series of questions -- he said eight or nine questions -- all about my church. And then afterwards when we were off the air, he said, ‘Are you ever going to give a Mormon speech?’ I said, ‘I just did.’ And so I’m happy to answer any questions people have about my faith and do so pretty regularly.
"Is there going to be a special speech? Perhaps at some point -- I certainly like the idea myself, but the political advisers tell me ‘No, no, no, it’s not a good idea. It draws too much attention to that issue alone.’ But I sort of like the idea anyway and will probably do it at some point, but who knows? That’s not a final decision.
"But I can tell you that the fundamentals I think of what people want to know is, ‘Are you going to be taking your directions from somebody else?’ The answer is of course not. I’m going to the follow the Constitution and the rule of law, just like John Kennedy said he’s not going to do what the Pope told him to do. That wouldn’t make sense. And it wouldn’t make sense for me to turn to my church and ask them, ‘Well, what do you think we ought to do on stem cell research or the war in Iraq or anything else?’ The answer is no.
"And then, how about your values? Do your values, are they informed by your faith, and the answer is absolutely. The values of my faith flow from the Judeo-Christian heritage that we probably all share in this room, which are values of believing in God, in the case of those who follow the Christian line of that philosophy, I believe that Jesus Christ is my savior. I believe in the Bible. I believe that liberty is a gift of God, and not of government. I believe in serving other people -- that’s part of my religious heritage, and I think these values and also the sense of that we’re one family of humankind around the world.
"I think these values should inform a leader of our nation and those values are shared. So maybe I’ll give a speech like that someday, but until that time you’ll have to rely on what you just heard."
