Presidential candidates present "mixed bag" for religious voters

By Rebecca Rosen Lum - Contra Costa Times
Monday, May 12, 2008 - Web Link
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May 9, 2008

When Michigan Gov. George Romney ran in the Republican presidential primary, no mention was made of his Mormon faith.

But by 2007, his son, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, ran smack into a wall of doubts from a nation uneasy about his religious allegiances.

With each election since Jimmy Carter publicly introduced himself as a born-again Christian, the pulpit has held a prominent place in this public sphere. A poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press last summer found almost seven in 10 Americans said it was important to them "that a president have strong religious beliefs."

In the East Bay, voters differ widely over how their own faiths will play out in the November vote.

A devout Mormon said religion had no place in the voting booth. An Episcopal gay rights leader said there was no way to check faith values at the door when casting a ballot. A Christian said her faith background not only influences her values but has caused her to feel deeply conflicted about the November election.

"If they believe in a supreme being they're 90 percent of the way with me," said Ed Stevenson a Bay Point Presbyterian.

"I don't think anyone's faith should have any bearing on what I'm thinking," said Susan Randall, a Mormon who lives in Martinez. "I don't like the way George Bush uses God."