Edwards and Clinton were also the target of push polls.
Obamaites are so "honest"

This isn't McCain or Giuliani, it is one of their supporters. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was a McCain supporter that he never authorized. I would be even less surprised if it was one of Giuliani's buddies-of-ill-repute and that Rudy knew about it 100%. Bottom line, Mitt knew this was coming. The campaign was prepared for it. McCain and Giuliani would not do well to stir Mitt's crew, many of which are already hungry for mud-slinging blood. They're smart to push against these polling techniques but I'm sure this is just the thunder before the storm. It will get much worse, and I only see this helping Romney.

It's sad that religious bigotry still exists today.  Everything I'm reading in the news says that Romney won't win because people hate Mormons.  Kennedy probably thought he had settled the religion issue.

Mudslinging by Obama & Edwards serves Republicans well & in no way uplift their chances for nomination.They must tell us how good they are,not how bad Clinton is.She's too sweet!

i'm a demo and disagree with mccain on positions but i really doubt that he would be involved in this.i may think he sold out to gop in 2000 for bush but he's been a victim and he spoke up for kerry when they did it to him. mccain's integrity in this area is still in tact and if any on his campaign participated i'd run for cover as john mccain takes no prisoners and he might approve waterboarding in this case only'

I hope NH and IA wise up and vote for someone other than Romney.

Interesting how McCain is the one who pretends to be above it all, this is all his hidden agenda, same as his mother saying that comment.

I think it was that "independent" organzation that is linked to John McCain. Same people that ran ads in South Carolina, McCain says hey, you run these ads and do push polling, but I have nothing to do with it.

wink wink. This smells very fishy and I think its time for John McCain to go. If he seeks re-election in Arizona, he will have a tough time. John McCain is a career politican and its time for him to go.

Chandler Arizona

They were talking about this on Morning Joe the other day, and apparently it is happening a lot in Iowa.  They referenced Hillary and Edwards as being "victims" of push-polling, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a lot more widespread than we think.  

Romney's faith is not an issue in Iowa. But his convenient 1968 French Deferrment is.

McCain is by far the strongest GOP general election candidate in a new SUSA poll of Iowa -- and Obama runs well ahead of Clinton: http://www.campaigndiaries.com/2007/11/in-case-we-forgot-that-mitt-romney-is.html

imagine repubs resorting to swiftboat tactics, who would have guessed?

It is a disgusting practice. I'm sure an investigation will clear McCain - he really is above this.

It is sad that people believe simply because one religion is ever so slightly easier to impugn than their own, that they should consider followers of that religion less fit to make decisions for every one else.

Just because Mitt may believe in a sketchy new sacred text, wearing magic undergarments, and was a somewhat significant member of the LDS church while it was explicitly racist is only something to make hay about if you can honestly support the beliefs the other candidates may have in magical talking bushes, floods of unsupportable origins, and the myriad of other unsupportable claims in their holy texts.

I'm sure all the candidates are as sincere as Romney. They all want to take the reigns and, with great hair under bright lights, further tax the will and wealth of a productive, yet easily cowed and hoodwinked populace.

Stand up and demand more from your leaders and yourselves.

Well McCain should know how this works, his buddy Bush crucified McCain and his family with these slime repukelican tactics. You and yours John, the mud sticks as blow back get ya every time.

McCain is no angel. Having watched him in Arizona for years, he has done some pretty immoral things. He is a "Tell them what they want to hear" politician, much like Goldwater before him. While he is against torture, having had it inflicted upon himself, he is not above using whatever tactics he deems neccessary to win an election. He would publicly defend Mormons since a large portion of his constituency is of the LDS faith, but he is not above push-polling and using a candidate's religion against him. There is no doubt in my mind that he is in it up to his scars!!

You know, Karl Rove is out of a job at the moment with a lot of time on his dirty hands, maybe he is making the phone calls?

Obama push polling in Iowa?  Saint Barack?  Say it ain't so!

RepubliCANTs behaving badly...again.
Gee, what a surprise.

I'm sure McCain'll be cleared.  Everybody gets sullied in politics.  Outside of his Keating 5 issues and that unfortunate initial vote against MLK day, and then a initial wishy washyness on the 'fed flag in SC, I find very little fault in the man.

I have to say I thought what his mom said was, well, hilarious, but unfortunate.  I was watching it live and it was one of those moments like when Zell Miller challenged Matthews to a duel... to his credit, Mitt handled it w/ class, basically saying she 90 plus- she should get a pass.

Jane Doe in Seattle - I hope you understand that your comments are incredibly offensive to millions of Americans who share the Mormon Faith.
As a member of the LDS faith and the Democratic Party I am appalled that a country founded for the express purpose of allowing Religious Freedom, would continually harass a religious group that had donated millions of dollars to help disaster victims throughout the world no matter what their faith. I hope that Romney will use this event to help our fellow American's understand the LDS faith rather than blindly criticizing it.

Joel, I gotta tell ya, I don't get your faith...and the more I hear of it, the more I scratch my head.

That said, I wouldn't vote for or against anyone because of their religion, gender or race, but you can be sure an AWFUL lot of americans would.

BTW, how do you and Harry Reid (and all of his politico sons) end up as Dems? I thought the LDS was conservative...but then, so was Harry until he got a taste of power...

How about a candidate that has voted and lived his life by the principles he verbally espouses.  One that has been married to the same person for his entire life, unabashedly professes his Christian faith but vows to not force his beliefs upon all through legislation.  A man who served honorably in the military during a time of conflict not looking for ways to get out of serving.   An individual who vows to end the war immediately, eliminate income taxes without putting anyone on social security or welfare out on the street.  Someone who understands economics to the degree that he was able to shame Bernake into admitting that the government is printing worthless Reserve Notes that undermine everyone's savings.  Sounds like it might be Ron Paul to me.

There's no room in this campaign for push polls by Republicans against Republicans.  There's only room in this campaign for push polls by Republicans against Democrats!

How about a candidate that has voted and lived his life by the principles he verbally espouses.  One that has been married to the same person for his entire life, unabashedly professes his Christian faith but vows to not force his beliefs upon all through legislation.  A man who served honorably in the military during a time of conflict not looking for ways to get out of serving.   An individual who vows to end the war immediately, eliminate income taxes without putting anyone on social security or welfare out on the street.  Someone who understands economics to the degree that he was able to shame Bernake into admitting that the government is printing worthless Reserve Notes that undermine everyone's savings.  Sounds like it might be Ron Paul to me.

How about a candidate that has voted and lived his life by the principles he verbally espouses.  One that has been married to the same person for his entire life, unabashedly professes his Christian faith but vows to not force his beliefs upon all through legislation.  A man who served honorably in the military during a time of conflict not looking for ways to get out of serving.   An individual who vows to end the war immediately, eliminate income taxes without putting anyone on social security or welfare out on the street.  Someone who understands economics to the degree that he was able to shame Bernake into admitting that the government is printing worthless Reserve Notes that undermine everyone's savings.  Sounds like it might be Ron Paul to me.

How about a candidate that has voted and lived his life by the principles he verbally espouses.  One that has been married to the same person for his entire life, unabashedly professes his Christian faith but vows to not force his beliefs upon all through legislation.  A man who served honorably in the military during a time of conflict not looking for ways to get out of serving.   An individual who vows to end the war immediately, eliminate income taxes without putting anyone on social security or welfare out on the street.  Someone who understands economics to the degree that he was able to shame Bernake into admitting that the government is printing worthless Reserve Notes that undermine everyone's savings.  Sounds like it might be Ron Paul to me.

Thompson Campaign:

That would be the same kind of roto-bigotry that won George Bush the South Carolina primary over John McCain in 2000, now wouldn't it?  Seems that this kind of smut has long been a staple of Republican Primary--and general election--campaigns.  Methinks you protest too much!

Mccain isn't "above" anything. He is as phony as any politician who has "worked" in Washington WAY too long. Time to get rid of all these gasbags.

No one is saying Romney can’t believe how he wants to believe.  But the people voting for him do have a right to question the past decisions that he’s made, including his decision to join and be a part of such a ludicrous cult.  If a Rastafarian were running for office, does anyone think that his belief that smoking marijuana to worship God would not be attacked?  

Romney believes that that the American Indians are principal ancestors of a lost tribe of Israel, “Jews with cursed dark skin” despite the DNA evidence that has proven this not to be the case.  In my view this is also a racist belief.

Romney also believes in a religion that held that God cursed and marked the Africans with dark skin and excluded them from the priesthood (a position later changed in 1976 because the Mormons said they received a revelation from God).

Romney believes a book to be truth (the Book of Mormon) that the archaeological community has unanimously discredited.  (see the Smithsonian institute's official statement). There is no archaeological, linguistic, or geographical evidence for the Book of Mormon, and there is evidence that it’s the product of Smith's vibrant imagination.

Romney believes that Smith’s Book of Abraham was translated by Smith from Egyptian papyrus that has now been shown by professional Egyptologists to be the work of Joseph's imagination; Smith’s alleged translation of some Egyptian papyrus was nothing more than a common funeral rite found on the chest of a mummy!

Romney believes in a religion where women are viewed as mere helpmates, in the temple they are told to veil their faces and swear to obey their husbands and they are ritually designated one of many queens to his Kingly harem in heaven. Women are not allowed to hold the priesthood power either which creates inequality.

Romney is a member of a religion that shuns academic scholarship, scientific research, and logical analysis when it conflicts with the Mormon dogma.

Now, knowing what Romney believes in and deducing how he arrives at those beliefs, isn’t it reasonable for people to question his logic and thought process in choosing to believe these things?  Do we really want a man in charge of the most powerful nation in the world, making decisions not based on evidence and scientific research, but rather on praying and waiting for a “burning in his bosom”?  Romney will believe what the Mormon church tells him to believe.  You think the weapons of mass destruction charade was bad, just wait till this guy is in office!

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):