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Campaign Spot spoke to Mansoor Ijaz who asked Romney the Muslims in the cabinet question. Ijaz's response sounded credible but Romney disputes his account. Then comes this: a separate account by two Republicans at a separate fundraiser who say Romney made a "no Muslims in the cabinet" remark which they took as racist. So is this an affirmative action story or a discrimination story or a credibility story? If the remarks were made there are other folks who heard them so the Romney team would be well advised to answer fully and completely with first, last and final explanation of what their candidate meant. Republican voters are serious about terrorism and the threat of Islamic fundamentalism but I see no evidence they would be receptive to this viewpoint which as David Frum has pointed out would eliminate one of the most qualified foreign policy experts around.

UPDATE: Did Romney make the statements? Spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom doesn't quite answer but says this: "Governor Romney doesn't hire people solely based on their religion, race or ethnicity. As governor, Mitt Romney had a diverse Cabinet with women and minorities. There were people of many different backgrounds in senior positions, and they were selected based on their skills and qualifications. That's the same approach he'll bring to the White House."

UPDATE 2: I tried one more time. What about these three poeple who have specific allegations? "What Governor Romney typically says is that he doesn't have a quota box that he checks off for Muslims or any other minority. He hires the most qualified people, irrespective of their ethnic or religious background." Well that clears up things.

topics:
Foreign Policy, Religion, Islam