Romney 'doesn't give a lot of thought' to giving major speech on his faith

CONCORD, N.H. -- Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said he is unsure whether or not to give a major speech regarding his Mormon faith, but that if he did it would happen later in the campaign.

With some polls showing that 30 percent of voters would not vote for a Mormon to be president, Romney’s wife, Ann, said in a recent interview she wants her husband to give a speech about his faith, similar to one John Kennedy did in 1960 when he campaigned for president.

When asked by a reporter if he would give that speech, Romney said he wasn’t sure, but his sense is that the American people aren’t paying enough attention to the campaign to give that speech now.

“I really haven’t decided whether there is a special speech that has to be given about my belief that a person running for office is not running for pastor-in-chief, but instead is running to make America a safer place and more prosperous place for our families,” said Romney. “So as to what the campaign tactics will be, I am going to let the strategists worry about that. I frankly don’t give a lot of thought to that.”

“I don’t think a lot of people are listening yet to my campaign,” he said. “They will a year from now. At that time, people will get to know me and what I stand for, where I will take America, and perhaps at that time we can have a bigger discussion about religion -- although I think by that time the religion issue will have pretty much faded away.”