Questions about Romney's Mormon faith prompt candidate's speech

Published: 2007-12-07

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Arizona Rep. Morris Udall sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1976, the fact that he was a Mormon, albeit an inactive one, was barely mentioned. When former Michigan Gov. George Romney in 1968 went after the Republican nomination for president, his active membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the formal name of the Mormon church, didn't cause a ripple in the press, or, apparently, play a role in his campaign. But Romney's son, Mitt, the former governor of Massachusetts who is seeking the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, felt pressured enough by persistent questions about his being a Mormon that he gave a highly publicized speech about faith Dec. 6. The address at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, channeled a speech given in 1960 to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association by then-Sen. John F. Kennedy, who was battling stereotypes about Catholics. Romney referenced that address directly. "Almost 50 years ago another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for president, not a Catholic running for president," he said. "Like him, I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion."

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