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Campaign Crawlers
Ted Kennedy’s Anti-Mormon Moment
What happened the last time an incumbent Democrat faced the prospect of losing to Mitt Romney.
Those looking for hints about what role faith might play in the presidential election campaign would do well to recall Ted Kennedy’s bitter and bruising 1994 Massachusetts Senate campaign against Mitt Romney.
Facing the prospect of losing his well-worn seat to the political novice, Kennedy and his surrogates unleashed a broadside against Romney’s Mormon faith. The episode may offer a preview of how the Obama re-election campaign will address Romney’s faith, and how Romney will respond.
Sen. Kennedy was the weakest he’d ever been as he sought re-election in 1994. In his six terms in office, Kennedy had never trailed a general election opponent in a poll, and he’d never won by fewer than 14 percentage points.
But 1994 was different. Since his last election, the image of Kennedy as a philandering, reckless drunk had been etched in voters’ minds, in part due to revelations of his carousing that had emerged three years earlier in the rape trial of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith.
Plus at 62, Kennedy looked tired, old and overweight — a stark contrast to the relatively young, fit, clean-living Romney. “Kennedy fatigue,” more than one political pundit observed, had set in. By September Romney had won the Republican primary and was neck-and-neck with Kennedy.
Desperate to tarnish Romney’s family man image, Kennedy and his surrogates attacked Romney’s faith, citing the Mormon Church’s past racially exclusive policies and its denial of the priesthood to women. (To cover himself, Kennedy also began publicly calling for the ordination of women in the Catholic Church.)
Kennedy was making a calculated appeal to female voters, political commentators said, a demographic Kennedy had long depended on but was struggling to attract that year.
Kennedy had plenty of help from surrogates, including nephew Joseph Kennedy, then a Massachusetts representative. “I believe very strongly in the separation between church and state,” Rep. Kennedy, who referred to himself as his uncle’s “pit bull,” told the press. “But I think that if a particular church has a belief that blacks are second-class citizens, and that’s the stated belief of the church, or that women are second-class citizens, I mean you ought to take a look at those issues.”
The race-based attacks were, by any objective measure, unfair. For one, Rep. Kennedy’s accusation that the church still discriminated against black members was flat out wrong. The church had changed its policies years earlier and by then allowed black members to hold leadership positions.
What’s more, there was no proof that Romney approved of his church’s past discrimination. In fact, Romney’s father, George, a former governor of Michigan, was a fierce civil rights activist, ahead of his time both in his church and in the Republican Party.
And Mitt clearly admired his father for that leadership. “He marched in civil rights demonstrations or parades, opposed the Goldwater platform in 1964 and refused to endorse Goldwater as a presidential candidate when my father was governor,” the candidate explained at a campaign event. “So despite the misunderstanding about my church, my father’s personal views were manifest by his actions in the public and private arenas.”
Romney was also targeted by what Ron Scott describes in his recent book Mitt Romney as a coalition of “somewhat ad hoc, but passionately dogged, Mormon anti-Romney advocacy groups that badgered him relentlessly throughout the 1994 campaign.”
At one point, four members of his Mormon congregation charged that Romney had a few months earlier referred to gays and lesbians as “perverse.” Others demanded that Romney discuss his church’s opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment and the practice of plural marriage (which the church had outlawed a century earlier).
Romney tried to carefully separate himself from his church on some cultural issues. “My church feels that abortion is not a good choice,” he told Bay Windows, the state’s gay and lesbian newspaper. “However, my mother advocated for the legalization of abortion. So they, like I, can live by and have personal beliefs which celebrate the diversity of our society, and fight for the right of all people to live by their own beliefs and to make their own choices. Their example and my experience is one of showing respect and tolerance for all others.”
The Kennedy campaign refused to disavow Joe Kennedy’s comments. The senator then backtracked on previous promises not to raise religion, suggesting that Romney should be asked tough questions about his faith.
About the Author
Daniel Allott is a writer in Washington, D.C.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (92) | Leave a comment
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spike59| 5.23.12 @ 6:22AM
The Kennedys are what slime scrapes off its shoe
Marilee| 5.23.12 @ 8:13AM
Ditto. Especially Ted, a murderer.
TLP| 5.23.12 @ 9:12AM
And, can somebody tell me HOW this MFer is Buried at Arlington? Can someone explain to me how this MURDERER of a Young Women, who made it his Life's Work, to decimate our Military Forces, at every turn, and gave AID and COMFORT to the Enemy, when he sent a Letter to Soviet Premier - Yuri Andropov - offering his assistance, in his upcoming meeting with OUR PRESIDENT, at the Height of The Cold War, is in the same Hallowed Grounds as America's Heroes?
All I wanna read about this MFing POS, is that someone has DUG HIM UP, and his rotting corpse was dragged behind a truck, to the nearest Land Fill, where he was Properly Interned in the Pit that hold the Pigsh*t.
Other than that, I would consider it a BLESSING, should his name never be spoken, by anyone, ever again.
Let sleeping Sh*t lie.
JmsA| 5.23.12 @ 12:08PM
Why would you do that to the landfill, TLP?
WRTolkas| 5.23.12 @ 12:14PM
My father and a few uncles are resting at Arlington. You have no idea how much it peeves me off to have to walk by the bloated corpse of that political hack. Teddy rests within hallowed ground surrounded by heroes. Maybe the that makes Swimmer Kennedy, the Hero of Chappaquiddick final rest not so comfortable after all.
Anthony| 5.23.12 @ 3:41PM
WR, Most distressing, I'm sure. Well, we can put that on our " list of things to do" after we clean up all of Washington.
Joellen| 5.23.12 @ 1:45PM
Almost as disgusting Tim, is the Catholic Church giving him that big send off. GOD Help us.
One Mediator, Jesus| 5.23.12 @ 2:12PM
Par for the course. They harbor pedophiles, so no surprise there.
Oldefarte| 5.23.12 @ 2:44PM
When you say 'they', please don't condemn Catholics [since I am one]. What you state is true, but that is representative of the command structure of the Church, not the individual Catholic membership [who are mostly good and decent people who worship G-d, and lead moral lives according to His wishes]!!!!!!!
One Mediator, Jesus| 5.24.12 @ 12:48AM
The Catholic church is what I was referring to, as Joellen's post was speaking of.
Of course it's the entire structure of the Religion that I am referring to~ it always IS.
It's about the doctrine, not the individuals. Although every soul is going to be judged according to what doctrine they chose to believe, and if it isn't the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to the Bible, then they are believing a lie.
Jesus died for right and wrong, and He is worth all of our taking His Words seriously.
Salvation isn't based on how good we try and be, because God says we're ALL ruined (fallen) sinners in need of His Grace.
But that Grace comes through Jesus Christ alone, by His Grace, through Faith, and by His Spirit that He gives each individual to dwell in us. It doesn't come from or by going to church or "Sacraments"~ THAT is a FALSE gospel.
Jesus says His Yoke is easy, and His burden is light. He says "Come unto Me".
That's good enough for me!
JmsA| 5.23.12 @ 12:04PM
That's eloquence beyond compare.
Appleby| 5.23.12 @ 6:44AM
Considering what a blight the Kennedys have been on the Catholic Church (not a one of them appears to be fit to receive communion, as they appear to be in a continual state of mortal sin), I would think they'd have the sense to shut up about the religious beliefs of others.
It makes no more sense to criticize Romney because his church USED TO be polygamous and to tell Blacks that if they were really, really good they'd be White when they got to Heaven, than it does to criticize present-day Catholics for the behaviour of some Crusaders and the Spanish Inquisition -- or to criticize modern day Whites for slavery. Any criticism should be limited to what the Church does during the lifetime of the candidate. And yes, that means the 25 years Obama sat before Jeremiah Wright and claims he heard nothing at all that the man said in all that time. That door swings both ways, after all.
Von Mises Jr| 5.23.12 @ 8:14AM
The Kennedy legacy of infidelity, drunkenness and death Mary Jo Kopechne has been added to with an ex-Kennedy wife hanging herself. It must be hell to be a Kennedy?
Al Adab| 5.23.12 @ 11:21AM
Why is anyone surprised by anything The Left says or does? After all since they mean well and have good intentions and since they know what is best for us all, the ends justify the means. They must stay in poweer to create our Utopia of social justice. GAG
Von Mises Jr| 5.23.12 @ 12:03PM
The "Useful Idiots" are dangerous since "The Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions." Another classic is that a tyrant that believes he is doing good will be more oppressive than the cruel tyrant since the former will never let you sleep. But I think most of the people driving the bus know the route, and they do not have good intentions toward us, my friend.
Sugartown Super| 5.23.12 @ 1:14PM
You refer to C.S. Lewis' comment:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
Von Mises Jr| 5.23.12 @ 2:23PM
Thank you. I knew the gist of it, but not the author to find it.
Al Adab| 5.23.12 @ 3:38PM
Can I mention above where Mitt is proud of his Father for opposing Goldwater in '64. Is he still? The effects of title IX which Goldwater opposed have proven to be disasterous. Does Mitt believe his father should have opposed the birth of the Conservative Movement as he did? For what reasons (other than ridding the world of this president) should Conservatives support Mitt now?
Von Mises Jr| 5.23.12 @ 4:28PM
Because he is running against an Alinskyite who wants to create a new serfdom.
KTC John| 5.23.12 @ 9:38PM
You hit the nail on the head. Ridding the political world of the current president is more than a sufficient reason to support Mitt.
W| 5.23.12 @ 12:22PM
Von
You mean it must be hell to know, marry, and be in a car with a Kennedy.
Mike Hawk| 5.23.12 @ 8:16AM
I hope we have seen the last of the Kennedys. They are a dysfunctional clan of reprobates. Moral grounding and civility escape them. Their regal sense of entitlement is anathema to Americans. Let them rot in their own personal hells as long as they cling to their selfcentered ways.
Truncheon| 5.23.12 @ 8:35AM
If you have a deadline for an article, and there is no news about topic "X", then go to the land of make believe...
Mark| 5.23.12 @ 8:36AM
Hopefully Mitt has learned how to effectively counteract what will be ObaMao's inevitable attack on his Mormon faith. I think the smart people (that is, most of the likely voters) are so put off with ObaMao's sleazy Chicago Thug Tactics, and tired of this lousy economy, they are not going to fall for the attacks. The stupid people (ObaMao's die-hard supporters) can just stay home on Election Day! Hopefully, there aren't enough precincts in the critical electoral vote states for BO to steal the election.
TexasMom2012| 5.23.12 @ 2:50PM
Plus Obama's family has much closer ties to polygamy than Romneys, as in Romney 19th century ties and Obama 20th century ties!
Anthony| 5.23.12 @ 8:39AM
Well we have seen recently that nephew Robert, the angel of radical enviornmentalism, is another rotten Kennedy seed that has not fallen far from the rotten oak.
His classic Kennedy recklessness and narcissism claimed the life of his estranged wife. It takes a lot of abuse to cause a person to hang herself.
The Kennedy's derserve their special place in Hell.
Uncle Ted ain't too worried about Mitt's Mormon connection now.
However, Mr. Allott is correct, Obozo will destroy Romney with everything vile attack Ds can conjour. Romney and his "brain-trust" had best get their heads out of their asses. This election is about the fate of America, not Romney. He damn well better understand that.
Jim Mulcahy| 5.23.12 @ 8:54AM
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who remembers this ugly pandering by Kennedy.
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 10:59AM
What about the Willard speech to Liberty Madrassa er I mean University?
David W| 5.23.12 @ 9:09AM
Romney needs to have a set of videos and canned responses for any Mormon attack. It should include:
1) Obama talking about Wright in a favorable light and then clips of Wright damning America
2) The clip of Wright saying that he was responsible for Obama converting from Islam to Christianity (maybe)
3) Clips of Obama talking about his faith telling him that homosexual marriage is bad.. then talking about his faith telling him it is good.
4) Clips of priests talking about the lawsuit against Obama's attack on religion
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 10:04AM
Romney needs to have a canned response to ANY religious inquiry: religion is irrelevant, ethics is everything.
Every religion has it's skeletons i.e the entire ethic of the OT, the perverse inferences made by ALL Christian zealots of sentence fragments never said by Jesus, never written down and transposed hundreds of years later. The absurdity of scholarship around the Talmud and Shariah laws, and how they imbue and distort civic discourse.
Now we have celestial marriage, magic jockey shorts and nonexistant gold plates to harp about? Please.
Whether Willard is a Smithian or a Santeria follower (another Christian icon co-opting cult) is irrelevant. We've had Jews and even the dreaded papists in high office and the union has not fallen.
The tenets of Mormonism and Willard's view of them are fair game. They were compelled by federal fiat to abandon polygamy. Willard's family fled the country because of it. Debate.
They were compelled by federal fiat and obvious civic pressure to allow blacks into general acceptance. It is clear this "acceptance" is for needed PR imagery and not embraced by the flock nor the board of directors/star chamber that Willard is a member of, and did not endorse at the time. Debate.
Willard has given millions of dollars to the Mormon coffer. A la Cruise and Hubbardism, what does this purchase for Willard? Debate.
Lyneuss Fields | 5.23.12 @ 11:10AM
Yes it is true that every religion has its skeletons. But the skeletons of Mormonism lie throughout 19th and 20th century America under Her Constitution. Those skeletons were born through murder and treachery of American citizens by Joseph Smith Jr., Brigham Young and crew. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman for that matter are both great-great grandchildren of Parley P. Pratt—a Danite, Polygamist, wife snatcher and childhood friend to both Smith and Young. Is this just a coincidence that two politicians for U.S. President are from the same religion and are related by blood, or is this more Mormon treachery (see White Horse Prophecy) in 21st century America? Let's debate that!
http://lyneussfields.blogspot......gious.html
Peppermint Tea| 5.23.12 @ 12:41PM
I'll take the Pratts over the Kennedys any day.
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 1:39PM
I'll take anybody who will shut up and lead and stop pandering to our baser emotions like Willard does, and anyone who'll stop conjuring up strawman's like BHO to camo his inept leadership.
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 1:45PM
It's also true that the founding fathers had slaves, made deals with the French and possibly had less than idealistic goals when staging their guerrila war in 1775. Washington did not readily forfeit the land he got as compensation for the 1759 war from the brits, did he?
I don't buy sins of the father baloney, but I do buy criticism if they used the ill-gotten fortunes of their fathers to underwrite their careers - as both have done.
TexasMom2012| 5.23.12 @ 3:02PM
Not true. Mitt donated his inheritance in its entirety and went on to EARN his OWN fortune. Unlike any of the Kennedy clan. Mitt did not keep his fathers fortune so therefore, "no sins of the father" cr@pola!
KTC John| 5.23.12 @ 9:48PM
And I will take the religiouly motivated polygamy of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Joseph Smith, and Brigham Young over the type of polygamy practice by Obama's father anytime.
KTC John| 5.23.12 @ 9:49PM
And I will take the religiouly motivated polygamy of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Joseph Smith, and Brigham Young over the type of polygamy practice by Obama's father anytime.
Louis Jenkins| 5.23.12 @ 9:22AM
The Kennedy's have bad karma. Everyone of them is killed, or commits suicide, or has some dear other killed or committing suicide. Except for the worst of the lot, ole Teddy. A friend of mine almost puked when he had to go out and lower the American flag to half mast when Teddy died. A bad family generation meeting a bad end.
Richard Ryan| 5.23.12 @ 9:27AM
Dirty anti-Mormon lies and aggressive tactics backfired in 1994 Massechusetts, but they will work fine in 2012 America. Sad but true.
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 10:11AM
They didn't backfire. Kennedy won.
Willard slithered into office in 2004 on a platform of the democratic party of 1984. Then took off when he recognized running on one's record would be a challenge.
We have zero evidence Willard will govern any other way, do we?
Doug| 5.23.12 @ 9:27AM
"When it really counted the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was on the side of the angels.
1. When slavery was an issue Joseph Smith ran for president with a plan to free all slaves by 1850.
2. For more than a century leading up to the Nazi perpetrated genocide, Mormon doctrine refuted the ideas that underpinned Naziism; namely biological determinism or the idea that genes or biology determine intellectual and moral attainment.
Abraham Chapter 3:22
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;"
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 10:15AM
So what?
Smith is dead and the "church" was driven by federal fiat and the barrel of the gun to abandon their conjured beliefs.
Give me one example of inspired leadership by the Smithians on any ethical point.
You can't, so Willard's multimillion dollar investment in this Christian icon co-opting cult needs to be explained in the context of what he believes it will purchase for him. I don't care about the morality of it, just the transactional details.
He has stated he is and was a businessman. Prove it.
Tammie Sandoval| 5.23.12 @ 10:02AM
Thanks for Romeny's quote on abortion
But he's been in business, so he should be President.
His support of the greatest holocaust in history? No big deal.
One Mediator, Jesus| 5.23.12 @ 10:14AM
"”This One is the Stone” having been
despised by you, the ones building, the One
coming to be into “the Head of the Corner;”
Psa. 118:22
and there is Salvation in no other
One, for neither is there another name
under Heaven having been given among
men by which it is necessary for us to
be saved." Acts 4:12.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Bob K.| 5.23.12 @ 10:19AM
Wasn't that fine Republican Mormon Senator from Utah, Orrin Hatch, a great friend of Senator Ted Kennedy? I believe he even praised his abilities to work with Republicans.
Anthony| 5.23.12 @ 10:38AM
A funny faux pas Robert, LOL. Kennedy probably did praise Hatch for working with Republicans, when Hatch was not doing the bidding of the Democrats!!
Lawrence| 5.23.12 @ 10:34AM
It seems to me that everyone's missing the most interesting part of the article: in order to convince the voters of his color-blind bona fides, Mitt Romney was willing to throw conservatism under the bus -- and Goldwater in particular.
"In fact, Romney's father, George, a former governor of Michigan, was a fierce civil rights activist, ahead of his time both in his church and in the Republican Party.
"And Mitt clearly admired his father for that leadership. 'He marched in civil rights demonstrations or parades, opposed the Goldwater platform in 1964 and refused to endorse Goldwater as a presidential candidate when my father was governor,' the candidate explained at a campaign event. 'So despite the misunderstanding about my church, my father's personal views were manifest by his actions in the public and private arenas.' "
To paraphrase, my dad wasn't racist, he opposed Goldwater.
Isn't that lovely?
One Mediator, Jesus| 5.23.12 @ 2:10PM
It's lovelier than Obama, any day. Does one have to be a backer of Goldwater how many decades ago in order to pass your musterd?
That's a play on words, there.
"To paraphrase, my dad wasn't racist, he opposed Goldwater."
No, that's YOUR weird paraphrasing.
You are obviously either a paid Soros Troll to try & get others not to vote for Romney, or just another two-bit Ron Paul-bot doing same.
Either way, it's pathetically clear.
Mattled| 5.23.12 @ 10:37AM
Every time Obama attacks Romeys Mormon faith, have Romney run an ad asking why he hates Harry Reid (a fellow Mormon) so much.
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 10:57AM
Uh don't.
Nobody will care.
This election is a true test of KJV bible-believin' rednecks: the exotic we despise (but not because he's black) or a Christian icon coopting cultist in the WH (we begrudgingly have to vote for, but not because he's white in a peculiar George Jetson way).
Oh the perils of carrying one's cross!
Who Knows?| 5.23.12 @ 11:26AM
It’s really very simple.
When, not if, the Obama campaign even dips its toe into bashing Romney’s Mormonism, the only response should be two words---
Jeremiah Wright.
Keep it simple for the overwhelmingly STUPID mass of still-uninformed voters.
You see, most people already have a pretty fixed take on Mormons, but only a small percentage of them even know who Wright is.
So, the obvious need is to get the word, WRIGHT, out!
Right?
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 1:47PM
BHO did not and does not underwrite the Black church. Willard underwrites the Smithian Cult of Christian Icon Co-option to the tune of millions each year.
Thumb on the scale again? Appears so.
TexasMom2012| 5.23.12 @ 6:45PM
BHO does still ascribe to Black Liberation Theology which is as far from traditional Christianity as Mormonism. BLT is actually worse because it justifies forcibly redistributing wealth in order to have "collective salvation". It does not believe in individual salvation while at least Mormonism does and Mormonism believes in individual good works and personal sacrifice while BLT demands others sacrifice for them.
KML| 5.23.12 @ 11:56AM
If it comes down to Obama attacking Romney's faith, perhaps Romney will finally toss out the McCain-esque position of ignoring Jeremiah Wright. Which he should be doing anyway. Obama sat in the pews for 20 years while Wright blasted this country, "rich white people", and Jews.
I think Romney's plan is "if you don't bring up my faith, I won't bring up yours." I happen to think it is a loser position. I doubt there has ever been sermons heard in the halls of a Mormon church that come anywhere near to what was heard inside the walls that surrounded the Rev. Wright.
Just to be sure, Romney better have commercials ready to go.
TexasMom2012| 5.23.12 @ 6:46PM
Amen
Vasu Murti | 5.24.12 @ 1:44PM
The media bias is conservative, not liberal. One of the pastors supporting John McCain in 2008, John Hagee, was known for making vehemently anti-Catholic remarks.
Media Matters for America wrote in 2008:
"How about controversial religious figures? Earlier this year, Media Matters showed that The New York Times and The Washington Post had published a total of 161 articles, editorials, and opinion pieces that mentioned Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright -- and only 12 that mentioned John McCain and John Hagee.
"That disparity wasn't unique to the Times and the Post -- and it hasn't evened out over time. 161 to 12."
Only One Meiadtor, Christ Jesu| 5.25.12 @ 11:13AM
There is nothing wrong with being anti-Catholic, since Catholicism preaches a different Gospel.
It is anti-Christ and anti-Christian, according to Scripture and according to the New Covenant of Grace through Christ Himself.
There's only ONE Mediator between God and Man, Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. 2:5.
Not the Pope, and not Mary.
The Pope is a fraud, he is no "vicar" of Christ on Earth. You just read 1 Tim. 2:5.
And Mary is dead, and God despises prayer to the dead. She was a sinner like the Bible says, saved by Grace like all Christians are, but was not born sinless as the cult teaches.
Jesus only!
plewis| 5.25.12 @ 3:13PM
An old saying applicable to your comments on the faith founded by Jesus over 2000 years ago and led by the first pope, Saint Peter , "The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on
JmsA| 5.23.12 @ 12:06PM
Who let the trolls in?
Peppermint Tea| 5.23.12 @ 12:48PM
A man dies and is greeted by St. Peter at the holy gates. St. Peter invites him and other on a tour of heaven, but cautions them not to look over the wall at the other side because it would be too unbearable. Finally, the man cannot resist, and St. Peter calls to him to desist. But the man says, it's not horrific.
St. Peter rushes to the wall and looks over, sees the land divided in grid, with houses, garden plots, and orchards, and he comments, "Those damn Mormons are irrigating again."
Peppermint Tea| 5.23.12 @ 12:55PM
A Mormon and his wife are waiting in line at the pearly gates, when they overhear the interview with a Catholic. "Sean," St. Peter says, "You didn't love God, all you loved was the booze. Why you even married a girl named Cheri! I'm afraid we can take you."
Then the Mormon overhears the next interview with a Presbyterian, in which St. Peter says "You didn't love God, you loved money. Why you even married a girl named Goldie!"
Then the Mormon turns to his wife and says, "Fanny, I think we better try the other place."
Derek Leaberry| 5.23.12 @ 12:56PM
Although Ted Kennedy is one of the most contemptible men in modern American politics, he won re-election in 1994 by 16 points. Linking Romney with Mormonism does not explain the Romney defeat. Kennedy broke open a close race due to his linkage of Romney to Jesse Helms. Moreover, Kennedy played on the sentiments of older Democrats and their ancestral love of the Kennedy clan and their historic hatred of the Yankees who had run the state for three centuries.
One Mediator, Jesus| 5.23.12 @ 1:20PM
Romney should just say that he is running for President, not Pope or dictator (one in the same, actually), but I do digress.
But if he did this he could teach a nation that has gone to sleep spiritually, what the difference between a dictator and a President is.
What a great opportunity he has to do this! He could point out the example of Obama as dictator, and how under his dictatorship, what has changed? Nothing for the better, only for worse.
He could show that the diff. between him & the big O is that he is a businessman and he gets it. He gets that people need jobs again. He gets it that most people want to be financially independent. He gets it that businesses need to be freed up from Leviathan type regulations in order to prosper and be able to hire them.
There are so many ways he could use the argument that they are trying to use against him on them.
He could ask how it is that anyone's Religion has ever been a question in electing a President of this free nation, and why it should be now.
As a Christian, I realize that the goals of a Republican admin. are what is desired, and therefore he will get my vote if he becomes the nominee, which is pretty much a done deal at this point.
And may God have mercy on our nation if we see fit to allow this election to go to the most anti-Christian President in our entire history.
Richard Baker| 5.23.12 @ 1:46PM
Anytime I read about Kennedy's being "Catholic" It makes me want to cry out. That fat slob was Catholic in name only. From Chappaquiddick to La Brasserie in DC and waitress sandwiches with Senator Dodd to wandering around naked and drunk around his property, including the beach, Kennedy was a disgrace to this country.
canuckistani| 5.23.12 @ 1:49PM
Would you rather a faux Catholic or a Smithian true believer?
You suggest that question alone does not deserve at least some vetting?
TexasMom2012| 5.23.12 @ 6:51PM
I would rather have someone who is Not a hypocrit and a traitor to his faith. So Romney over Kennedy, no contest. I have know a few Mormons and I would rather have any of them for a neighbor than any Kennedy, ever. Duh!
One Mediator, Jesus| 5.23.12 @ 2:03PM
"Kennedy was a disgrace to this country."
So are pedophile Priests.
Richard Baker| 5.23.12 @ 3:16PM
Agreed, but what does that have to do with Ted Kennedy?
Oldefarte| 5.23.12 @ 3:22PM
No, Kennedy was not a disgrace to this country, since the majority of its people are fine, decent and G-d fearing people. Both Kennedy and pedophile priests are ALL a disgrace however to the Catholic Church due to their misuse and abuse of same. G-d the Almighty will and has already dealt with same uon their individual deaths!!!!!!!!
plewis| 5.25.12 @ 3:15PM
Perhaps if he had sodomized an altar boy?
ninainMA| 5.23.12 @ 2:24PM
So let me get this straight, Kennedy "the Good Catholic" who dedicated his life to boozing and tried very hard to be a Good Kennedy criticizes a man, a mormon who's beliefs are a bit strange to a lot of people in this country but basically is a "good person", believes in being good to people, etc....and then we have...Islam...we are supposed to accept the muslums who believe when they martyr themselves, they get a harem of virgins? Who are told to HATE anyone who doesn't believe in what they believe? Who believe anyone else who doesn't bow down to Mohammad should be killed off? Sorry, but I'll side with the Mormons who aren't trying to kill us.....
Richard Baker| 5.23.12 @ 3:23PM
ninainMA:
Let's see:
Kennedy Catholicism=Drunken womanizing
Islam=Death to infidels/nonbelievers
Mormonism=Family, Community, Charity, and respectful behavior towards others
Yes, we must despise the Mormons. By the way, Mountain Meadows was in the 1850s, in case that's brought up.
I'm a Catholic who believes that how you worship god is YOUR business.
TexasMom2012| 5.23.12 @ 6:53PM
Absolutely!
DIck Nome| 5.23.12 @ 3:10PM
I heard the family decided against cremating Teddy for one reason. They didn't know how long it would take to put the fire out.
Oldefarte| 5.23.12 @ 3:33PM
Full disclosure: I am a born, raised and educated Catholic. I disagree ever so slightly with many of you who have rightfully critisized Teddy for his known acts of immorality. However, he is but ONE AMONG MANY WITHIN THAT FAMILY, if you are the least bit familar with same. To my knowledge, it basically began with his father who was a dispicable human being, a bootlegger by trade and a vile womanizer who even had the audacity to flaunt same in front of his long-suffering wife. If not her devotion to her Catholism, she should have divorced the bastard and sued him for every penny he fraudently made. The individual instances of debauchery within this family are well documented for anyone ignorant of same and willing to research this truth. Teddy like all of his male siblings was TAUGHT BY THE FATHER TO MIMIC HIS IMMORALITY, so they all were brainwashed into their immorality. I don't know if the Stockholm Syndrome will carry much weight with the Almighty , but for their sake I hope so!!!!!
One Mediator, Jesus| 5.24.12 @ 12:55AM
This is why I love you, Oldefarte.
Slacker| 5.23.12 @ 3:58PM
The Mormons already launched a preemptive counteroffensive. How do you explain the “I’m a Mormon advertising? It is no coincidence the ads run in battleground states.
The Mormon Church is spending an enormous amount of money basically campaigning for Romney. It could boomerang on them.
TexasMom2012| 5.23.12 @ 6:57PM
Good for them, it is their faith that is under attack and they should be free to defend their faith! It is ridiculous to say they should do nothing while their faith is vilified and ridiculed. Obama and his surrogates have brought this on themselves. A nice comparison between Black Liberation Theology and Mormonism could really hurt Obama. He opened the gate right in his own face.
Osamas Pajamas| 5.23.12 @ 4:53PM
I've always despised Ted Kennedy and wish died much sooner, that the damage he inflicted on my country would have been greatly attenuated. I've always despised his family and his hangers-on, as well. Nothing about them has ever commended them to my respect and esteem. Every one of them deserved my contempt, and I've often made a point of showing it.
plewis| 5.25.12 @ 3:16PM
God is love.
Old Guy| 5.23.12 @ 7:39PM
Surely all those liberal (statist) democrats who favor same sex marriage must see Mormon polygamy as an equally reasonable "lifestyle."
Tim| 5.24.12 @ 10:49AM
I don't think any attack on Morman Faith will stick this time around.
Obama who is a closet atheist a
margaret sanger devote a
socialist anti US constitution Community Organizer
anti religion fear monger
trumps any misgivings of any part of the Morman faith.
Only One Meiadtor, Christ Jesu| 5.25.12 @ 11:14AM
True.
Tim| 5.24.12 @ 10:52AM
That and the fact that Mormans are America"s Supporters and believe in the Family and basic traditions that made Country great.
How they worship is their business
just don't knock on my door and let me worship how I want to.
Seems like a fair exchange......
Only One Meiadtor, Christ Jesu| 5.25.12 @ 11:16AM
Also true. They are conservative principle wise, just screwed up in what they believe, as it is delusional, like Catholics. They are taught lies that are carried down from generation to generation by their families. Sadly, the Bible isn't their standard and so they go to their graves believing nonsense, unless God intervenes.
David G.| 5.24.12 @ 12:28PM
Why is Romney's Mormonism a daily issue on the news media? If he was Jewish would that be an issue too? I don't think we'd hear squat from David Gregory or any of the other pundits on either the left or right on the latter. Double standards promoted by the media bother me.
Tim| 5.24.12 @ 12:54PM
Perhaps the last two groups that are openly bashed by the media are Roman Catholics and Mormans.
Heck they don't even bash Muslims......because no one wants to be ...beheaded.
and thats the bottom line....
Catholics and Mormans take their hits and for the most part go down the road......
Part of me says thats a good thing but part of me says perhaps if the media ever really "feared" a potential serious backlash they would stop.
Only One Meiadtor, Christ Jesu| 5.25.12 @ 11:19AM
Well, the media bashes anything that has even the appearance of Religion.
They have theirs, and like most Religionists, if you don't worship their way, you're shunned, rejected and if they could they'd kill you.
All because they refuse to worship the true God in spirit and in truth.
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Jn. 4:24.
Bob From District 9| 5.25.12 @ 8:09AM
As a Catholic who remembers the smears against JFK for being Catholic, I am appalled by religious smears. However, I am as much appalled by smears against Muslims as against Mormons.
That still leaves open a valid question about Romney's religion. I have heard a lot of things about the Mormon faith, and I know several Mormons, yet I cannot find a single Mormon who will give me a straight answer on those points.
Once Romney said that Jesus is his savior just as he is mine. If what I have read and heard about Mormon beliefs is true, then, no, Jesus is not Romney's savior just as he is mine.
Only One Meiadtor, Christ Jesu| 5.25.12 @ 11:22AM
Too bad you are appalled at smears to Religion, and aren't appalled at smears to the only Mediator between God and Man, Christ Jesus.
"For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time." 1 Tim. 2:5 & 6.
Only One Mediator Christ Jesus| 5.25.12 @ 11:23AM
That is!
plewis| 5.25.12 @ 3:10PM
"What's more, there was no proof that Romney approved of his church's past discrimination."
Yes, but didn't he sit in the pew for years listening to hateful sermons and black liberation theology? Oh.. wait..nevemind.