Nightline: God will be our next President's 'co-pilot' A lot of American voters, says ABC's Martin Bashir, take a candidate's faith into consideration when deciding who will get their vote.
On the heels of a speech given by former Massachusetts governor and current GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney about his Mormon faith, ABC's Nightline delves into the two biggest names being dropped by 2008 hopefuls: Jesus Christ and God.
Much like President John F. Kennedy did, in countering attacks on his Catholic faith, and the sentiment that such faith would render him an operative of the Vatican, Romney delivered a speech Thursday to assure the public that his faith and his political life would remain separate; his Mormon faith would not render him an operative of the LDS church as President.
Said Romney, at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, "Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin."
"There's only one explanation for it, and it's not a human one," says Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee of his lead in the GOP Iowa primary polls. "It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of five thousand people."
When asked whether he thought the Mormon faith was Christianity, Huckabee said he didn't "know enough about Mormonism to know."
Mitt Romney has come under fire, particularly from Evangelicals, for his Mormon faith. Says First Baptist Church of Christ pastor Robert Jeffress, "Mitt Romney is not a Christian, he's a Mormon, and mormonism is a cult."
On November 9, even the mother of opponent and Arizona Senator John McCain made light of Romney's faith, connecting him with "the Mormons in Salt Lake City" and the scandal surrounding allegations of bribery to secure the Utah capitol's hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics.
"The views of my mother are not necessarily views of mine," assured McCain to MSNBC's Chris Matthews.
All major Democratic and Republican candidates alike have professed their faith on the campaign trail, assuring that, if not just a foot in the door to the White House; as Nightline puts it, God will be one's "co-pilot."
The following video is from ABC's Nightline, broadcast on December 5, 2007. Mitt Romney's entire speech is available at National Public Radio.
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