Huckabee behind anti-Mormon push Poll?

Huckabee, Romney go another round

By Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor December 11, 2007 01:02 PM

Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee continued tussling in Iowa today on the eve of the last Republican debate before the Jan. 3 caucuses.

In response to a new Romney TV ad that hits him on illegal immigration, Huckabee introduced a new supporter -- Jim Gilchrist, the leader and founder of the Minuteman Project, a controversial group that has sent members to the borders of both Mexico and Canada to watch for illegal immigrants.

Huckabee also told reporters that the Romney ad is a sign of "desperation" by the former Massachusetts governor, who has fallen behind Huckabee in the polls.

The Romney campaign repeated that Huckabee's record on illegal immigration is fair game, and an issue on which voters deserve to know the differences among the candidates.

Romney, Huckabee, and the other Republicans will debate Wednesday afternoon in a forum sponsored by The Des Moines Register.

A new poll out this afternoon from Rasmussen Reports gives Huckabee a 39 percent-23 percent lead over Romney among Iowa Republicans, not quite as large as the 22-percentage-point lead that a Newsweek poll released Friday gave Huckabee.

What about the FLDS Mitt?

Religious Freedom: Then, Now & Romney

Posted: 10 Dec 2007 12:15 AM CST

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- I had trouble choosing a lead for this column on Mitt Romney's nice speech about religious freedom last Thursday morning. I am for religious freedom and for freedom from religion....

Sharpton tours Mormon Utah headquarters after Romney comment

Sharpton tours Mormon Utah headquarters after Romney comment

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Rev. Al Sharpton toured Mormon facilities Monday and dined privately with a church elder after drawing criticism two weeks ago for remarks about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
"He's simply here to learn more about us," church spokesman Mike Otterson said of Sharpton's visit. "We want him to know what the church does, what its work is."
Sharpton made the trip after generating criticism during a debate with an atheist author when he said: "As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation."
Sharpton, a Pentecostal minister who urged the firing of Don Imus after the radio host's racially insensitive remarks, said his words were taken out of context. But he immediately called elders of the 12.5 million-member church to apologize.
Monday, on a live broadcast of his radio show from a church-owned broadcast center in Salt Lake City, Sharpton said he respects Mormons as Christians and believers. He called any perceived friction between himself and the church a "fabricated controversy."

"Whatever differences I have with their denomination or religion had nothing to do with my respect of their faith," Sharpton said.
He has not apologized to Romney but called for a "dialogue of reconciliation." Romney has said Sharpton's comment could be construed as bigoted. Officially, the church will not comment on Romney's campaign and maintains a position of political neutrality.
On the air, Sharpton said he and Elder M. Russell Ballard, of the church's governing board of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, met over dinner Sunday night and "talked very little, if at all" about the comments. Instead, Sharpton said, they discussed shared concerns and places where their faiths can work together.

"This is not politics," Sharpton said. "This is about what you fundamentally, firmly believe. I did not want to leave it as 'we got past an issue."'

The dinner was followed by a tour Monday morning of church facilities, including a humanitarian aid center from which the church distributes clothes, food and medical supplies around the world.

Salt Lake City is the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with a temple and other properties covering several downtown blocks.

Mormonism: Religion, Denomination, or Cult?

By Frank Pastore
Saturday, April 28, 2007

Am I an anti-Mormon bigot for simply raising this question?

In this column two weeks ago (available here), I stated I would vote for Mitt Romney should he win the Republican nomination, and that “though I am willing to unite with and befriend Mormons in common cause to advance our shared values, I am hoping to be a voice of clarity – unwilling to allow Mormonism to be mistaken for orthodox Christianity and unwilling again to disqualify a candidate simply because he is from a faith tradition so different from my own.”

I also stated, “many Mormons in recent years have taken to calling themselves Christians, and a growing number of Christians are willing to speak of Mormonism as something akin to another Christian denomination. But, Mormonism is not a Christian denomination, nor is it merely ‘a non-Christian religion.’ To be theologically precise, though perhaps politically incorrect, Mormonism is a cult of Christianity.”

Everyone should read this and post comments about how you feel on Frank Pastore's Blog site as well as on the Spyglass site. http://politicalspyglass.blogspot.com/

Here is the complete story....
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=mormonism__religion,_denomination,_or_cult&ns=FrankPastore&dt=04/28/2007&page=full&comments=true

Captain Mark