I think about it this way. A mormon republican , and wins the Mass gubernatorial race, than winning the presidency doesn't seem so weird after all. 

 

It is not difficult to imagine that John McCain falls from his current position as front runner, perhaps due to a display of anger which circles the net in minutes thanks to someone's mobile phone video. Giuliani is not even in yet, officially, though he probably will run. He too could fall. With those big names out of the race, Romney would be looking good with his reputation for smooth competence and his other attributes. The Mormon problem is difficult to assess, but given the right competition, Romneys other advantages might well give him the nomination. From there, anything can happen.

 

Man I hope not, but I think he could...The Morman card shouldn't be an issue - now that dubbya has set a tone for openess about one's faith, it's hard to imagine that being a barrier...unless of course the Evangelical contingent see's Mormanism as sacralige. Mitt Romney is very intelligent, charismatic and generally pragmatic more than dogmatic. He can convince Indy voters. His name is not well-known like McCain or Rudy G., but he probably is more appealing to the general public. As someone who is slightly left of center, I'll take any of them any day over Dubbya or some other whacko, right-wing, idealogue.

 

John McCain doesn't stand a chance at getting the Republican nomination. He's a great war hero but his immigration policy (his & Ted Kennedy's) will be his downfall. Giuliani has too many skeletons in his closet, and the New York media know all of his dirty little secrets. Rudy has the marquee name, but he can't beat Hillary.

Romney is a born leader and a brilliant man. All anybody can say negative about him is that he might not win because he's a Mormon. At one time, people thought it was highly unlikely that JFK could possibly be president because there had never been a Catholic in the White House prior. I'm from MA, and I've seen Mitt work. I'm excited about the national audience getting to know him. The difference between him and Bush is the difference between sardines and salmon.

 

I think Romney is competent enough for the position. It's all going to boil down to whether Americans have progressed beyond the silly religious stereotyping or not. Are they educated enough to look beyond the personal religious beliefs of a candidate (and their own false notions of them) and focus on their positions for each issue? Romney has already demonstrated that he can lead. I think that Americans are finally smart enough to ignore the immature banter of a few religious critics and place greater weight on the man's potential as a leader of the people.

 

That he is third in the polls now is a terrible argument that he won't win. Third is an amazing spot for someone who has almost no name recognition. His placement in the polls is a good argument that he'll take it.

 

"For example, the Mormon God comes from the planet Kolob."

What?? Even if it were true, where do the other Gods come from?

So that's going to make Mitt lose?? At least he's got a God, which is more than I could say about Bush or Clinton.

 

Honestly, how do the "off beat" tenets of Mormonism detract from a career history of experience and accountability? Besides, quite a few of our past presidents have hailed from the "off beat" - including Masons, Quakers, a Catholic and a Jehovah's Witness ( http://www.adherents.com/adh_presidents.html )... When you get down to it - most religions have "off beat" beliefs. It's just that Mormonism isn't mainstream enough for some people to ignor how "off beat" it is (even though what they believe could easily be construed as equally "off beat").

 

I have been a "mormon" for 23 years (my entire life) like my mother before me, and my grandmother before her...I have never even heard the world Kolob before, much les do we below God comes from such a place. Where are you getting your info from? Probably the same place all of the other ignorant liberals are. Such ingnorance in voters and candidates is much scarier than a man who has values and faith in God.

 

OK, a lot of people have voted for Mitt. But I gotta say, I don't think he has a real chance. He is third in most polls (Gallup, NBC), but a very distant third. Rudy and McCain have considerable leads in both polls. I just don't see it happening.

 

Oh, he can definitely run...but he can't win.  No straight Mormon will ever win.  The primaries are controlled, the polls are controlled, the media is controlled, and those that control them, don't plan to have a good Mormon president in office--unless it's for diabolical purposes, in which case--God save the President!!

 

Whatever anyone thinks about the validity of main stream religions, most of them are several thousand years old. Mormonism was founded about 170 years ago and has some pretty off beat tenets. For example, the Mormon God comes from the planet Kolob. Mormonism will get a very bright light shown on it during a presidential race. It, and Mitt, won't hold up.

 

Unfortunately the Presidential race comes down to money. Unless the multi-national corporations decide Romney will best represent their interests and therefor throw financial backing to his campaign, he won't go beyond the primaries. You have to keep in mind that the political parties will often add candidates during the primaries to marginalize other potential "dark horse" candidates. This most often leads to the parties main choice of candidate being pushed to the lead. It's a simple divide and conquer strategy. By dividing the support for non-mainstream candidates among several potential campaigns they keep someone like Romny or Ron Paul from gaining enough votes to usurp Bloomberg / McCain etc.

 

His religion isn't the only factor in his chances. His former pro-abortion stance may not go over well with conservatives and higher profile candidates will have an easier time raising money. frankly I'd be amazed if Romney even makes it past the first few primary elections.

 

You think believing in a god is a good thing, and should help someone making rational decisions? I think not.

 

The flip-flopping, especially the competing to be more liberal than Ted Kennedy quote will play over and over again if necessary to GOP primary voters and kill his chances.

 

Ok, I have no Idea who this guy is. So I'm putting my vote here purely because he has a weird name. What kind of a name is Mitt?

 

he is a republican, therefore he cant win the next election

 

He'll have to beat out both Giuliani and McCain for the nomination. Ain't gonna happen.

And if he does, he definitely won't be able to beat Clinton, Obama, or Edwards. Name recognition is strongly in their favor, for one thing.

 

No way. His healthcare "reform" will come back to bite him in the ass. Right now, the media are gushing about it, but people will ultimately realize that all he did was force citizens to pay money to insurance comapnies. Who's going to vote for a guy whose biggest policy achievement was to hand over the populace to private profiteers?

 

Mitt Romney cannot win the presidency because his past record is too ambiguous and fraught with contradictions on social issues. If, by some freak accident, he wins the GOP nomination, he will be labeled a flip-flopper and beaten by anyone the democrats want to run. The failure of this war and the unpopularity of the president will probably make it impossible for any Republican (other than dark-horse antiwar GOP candidate Ron Paul) to win the presidency. Mitt Romney is no exception.

 

Look, I'm about as middle of the road as they come. Probably much more conservative than most on fiscal policy but pretty moderate on social policy. I am not a "right-wing" religious nut. I am a presbyterian. We are pretty moderate, thoughtful, slow to criticize, and extremely tolerant of other points of view. If I cross him off the list because of his mormonism, then all the religious folks to my right (politically) are probably going to cross him off their lists as well. There are many who will compromise their beliefs and vote for Gov. Romney anyway because he is a "man of faith", but lets not forget that his faith is strange and alien to most Americans (myself inculded). In today's political environment any conservative is going to have to capture a great deal of the moderate vote to be elected in a national election. There are enough like me who would NEVER, under any circumstances vote for a mormon to make his nomination highly unlikely.

 

Hi, here's some info, God bless!

According to Wikipedia:

In the Latter Day Saint movement, Kolob is a star or planet mentioned in the Book of Abraham as being nearest to the throne or residence of God.

From the Book of Abraham:

"I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God;....and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest." (Book of Abraham 3:2-3.)

There is even a song in the Church hymnal. If You Could Hie to Kolob: "If you could hie to Kolob In the twinkling of an eye, And then continue onward With that same speed to fly, Do you think that you could ever, Through all eternity, Find out the generation Where Gods began to be?

It's really an awesome theology - Mormonism. It has so much depth. I love it! It's certainly worth reading 500 pgs. of the Book of Mormon to SEE if it is true, don't ya think? =)