GOP official urges no religion test for VP

f a Mormon cannot be considered today for high office, who will be eliminated from the same consideration tomorrow?' Carlson asked.

Easy - Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Wiccans, Chinese Universists, Agnostics, and don't even think about those god-less Atheists!!

Actually pretty much anyone who doesn't believe in Jesus.

I think Carlson is missing the point. It's not that McCain or his advisors are ruling out a Mormon just because he's a Mormon - it's a recognition of the fact by the McCain camp that a Mormon might hurt the ticket. The key issue in picking a VP is basically the same as the first rule in medicine: Do No Harm. Concerns about Romney on the ticket don't just happen in a vacuum - they are the result of political expediency.

Mormonism, although fast-growing and becoming more mainstream, really is a pretty wacky religion. It was started by a snake oil salesman/diviner, condoned and even encouraged polygamy until fairly recently (now just the fundie splinter groups back that), preached that black people were the spawn of the Devil until BYU needed WRs for their football team and then their prophet had a vision from God that said black people are ok... it's really wacked if anyone bothers to research the history of it.

I don't mean to rank on Mormonism because all religions have their share of quirks - but in my view it's not that far removed from a cult - and I grew up with tons of Mormons. If/when people ever do their homework on the details, a ticket that includes Romney would be in serious trouble because so many of the tenets of Mormonism stray from what is considered by most of the Christian base of the GOP to be "normal".

I think you just emphasized the point JP. I'm not a big fan of Mormonism or organized religion in general, but you're making the point that Mormons are weird because their beliefs are different than the mainstream. It almost harkens back to the first Catholics coming to the US in mass in the mid 19th century and protestants thinking they were idolaters who were going to hell because they listened to a tyrant in the Vatican.

I believe the governor is also saying that we should not be applying a religious test in general to a candidate, and that the religious right controls the party to a greater extent than it should. The GOP has bastardized its original platform and given into the religious right purely to get elected. McCain used to have a backbone and be the "Maverick" but now he's simply the same BS candidate who will change his views and pander to the evangelicals simply to get elected. For the first time since Carter, the Dem candidate is far more religious than the Republican, but McCain is playing to the religious just like all others have for the past 28 years.

This is exactly why McSame is a relic from a by-gone day. The times have obviously flown right by him. If he is elected, we might-as-well go back to the Cold War days when because that is exactly where McSame is stuck.

Choose a President with some forward thought, not just recurring memories of the past!

WOW! Do any of you Obama loving lefty socialists have any clue whatsoever? I mean I know that Massachusetts is one of the great Liberal safe harbors, but can you people please wake up???!!!!! Do you really trust Obama and Joe Biden to set and conduct foreign policy that is actually in the best interest of America? Do you really think electing a person who wants to redistribute more and more wealth from those that earn to those that think they are owed? Do you not understand the basic, repeatedly proven, and time tested tradition of lower taxes equating to higher tax revenues? You Libs are all the same....you are either elitists who feel guilty because while you enjoy your lavish lifestyle the poor choose to toil away at life.....or you are full of crap enviro-whackos trying to "save the earth"...NEWSFLASH....global warming is a HOAX, made up by enviro-whacko scientists as a way to ensure funding for their "research". The earth is actually cooling over the last 5 years.....does that mean we are on the verge of an ICE AGE.....or you are the typical Lib who is power hungry and like Obama, will do and say anything that gets you a vote.....take Nancy Pelosi grandstanding about how it is Bush's fault gas is near $4 a gallon, yet the President lifts the executive ban on drilling ion America and oil goes from $147 a barrel to $110 a barrel in a month and EVERYONE knows if Congress lifted it's ban, oil would drop to $80 a barrel and gas would go back to $2.50 a gallon.......that would be good for America, good for the economy.....BUT BAD FOR DEMOCRATS TRYING TO GET ELECTED.....so Pelosi is blocking a vote on something ALL of America wants........every Democrat in every election across the country should be defeated in November...my fear is that all you Libs are just too ignorant and uneducated to see the truth..........

Scott - first, get help. Second - your rant has absolutely NOTHING to do with anything remotely related to the subject at hand. Third - Global Warming is a hoax? Ok pal - that tells me everything I need to know about you right there. Holy cow - get a grip.

WOW Scott you are one angry dude.

'If a Mormon cannot be considered today for high office, who will be eliminated from the same consideration tomorrow?' Carlson asked.

While I agree with Gov. Carlson's remark, it's hard to believe that he can be that naive. Does he really think that a religious litmus test for national office does not exist already? Why does he think his own party has mounted a disinformation campaign, trying to convince people that Barack Obama is a closet Muslim? Didn't he watch the debates during the Republican primary when all the candidates were vying to see who could swear allegiance to Jesus Christ most forcefully? What about McCain's constant harping on 'Judeo-Christian values' ?
Or maybe he just assumes that everyone knows that anyone who is neither Christian nor Jewish needn't apply, and he's referring to the folks who are quibbling about whether Mormons are Chrisitians or not.

Scott, putting words in CAPITALS doesn't make them correct, calm down nitro

WOW indeed, Scott, what a crock. Most everything you said is nonsense, but three points stand out. In fact, lower taxes do NOT equate to higher revenue; global warming is NOT a hoax; and nothing Congress could do will bring back $2.50 gas. Thus it is wildly ironic that you label others "ignorant and uneducated". None of this, of course, has anything to do with religion or Romney. Personally, I long for the day when ethical beliefs trump religious ones in politics, and a day when religious observance is conducted outside the view of the national media. [The founding fathers, believers that they were, were wise to erect a wall between church and state, in order that religion might flourish.] Let's judge our leaders by the way they conduct public affairs, not by their private beliefs.

If you read the Carlson quote above closely, you'll note that he is neither endorsing nor condoning Romney as a VP candidate. He's simply saying that religion shouldn't be the litmus test. There may be numerous other reasons why one would rule out the former governor.

Hey Scott - how is it that you KNOW that lifting the ban will bring gas down to $2.50/gallon - are you controlling the commodities trade? Further, how do you KNOW that global warming is a hoax? Can you disprove this? Because a consortium of over 3,000 scientists (can you count that high?) ACROSS THE GLOBE released a report confirming the link between global warming and greenhouse gasses produced by humans. Do you dismiss science simply because you are embarrassed to admit you've spent your life believing in a fantasy world, or is it that you just prefer to ignore fact and accept fiction? You're arguments are totally baseless - as is typical of most republicans - and all seem centered around guns & oil. There is more to this election than the price of gas, and how our military is used - maybe you've heard of education, health care, social security, urban renewal, and immigration - are those of any concern to you?

It's also insulting that you claim only the top 1% are deserving of tax breaks, and that the other 99% of this country 'feels they are owed'. Let's take your ignorant position and apply it to real life - let's take away all the government giveaways, education loans, subsidized housing, food stamps, etc. and see what happens to your neighborhood when the lower-class REALLY has nothing to live for. Kill yourself.