LDS members, has bigotry cost Conservatives the presidential election?

Question

The obvious choice for GOP VP was Romney. However, McCain has passed him over for 2 reasons, in my opinion: 1) In order to try to steal women votes from the Hillary fallout, and 2) because of the continuing unease about Romney's religion.

If Romney wasn't LDS, do you think there would be any chance the 44 yr old, 20 month governor from Alaska (who has virtually no political experience compared even to Obama) would be involved in this election? And if McCain loses, is there a valid case to be made that the bigotry of the Conservative Right has cost them the election?

(For the record, I am LDS, but I'm leaning toward Obama and have been for several months now.)

Answer 1

i think mc cain was trying to pick his complete opposite just like obama did. so that he could have a "complete" ticket. those that complain about his age- his time spent in washington and the fact that the GOP will "always vote in a white male" that kind of puts those claims on a backburner. with the economic state this country is in romney would have at least eased my mind about the future. sadly i don't think the GOP wins this election even if mc cain is voted in. either way we are looking at a very sad and tough next 4 years. personally i don't blame mc cain as much as i do huckabee. there is no way that he actually thought he had a chance (although his intelligence has been in question many time before) i personally think he stayed in the race just to split the conserative vote and take away as much support from romney as he could. he is the one that played the religion card over and over again. at least mc cains' attacks against romney were something that should be relevant in an presidential election- the war. while i still think most of it was boggus and i don't agree with mc cains' position on the war (i think he is a war monger) at least it was a relevant argument. unlike huckabee who made attacks of bigotry and attached personal views of romney's choice of beliefs as a reason enough to question his ability to run the country. not only that but actually fired up even more stereotypes and nonsense to put fear and questions in the hard core religious voters. disgusting really. huckabee is a joke and he alone has cost us security and peace of mind for the next four years.

**p.s i don't know if i can conciously vote for either. obamas tax plan will put my family out on the streets as a small buisness owner. we will be taxed over 60% of our income because of the boggus tax bracket we will fall under in his new plan! 60%!!! to the gov't who takes and takes and gives nothing back except more debt!

Answer 2

ok, well I'm a little bummed he didn't chose Romney. But Pallin seems to be a competent politician, except for her lack of experience.

As for your speculation about his choice being affected by the concerns about Romney's membership in the Church, I'd say maybe. Maybe McCain is prejudiced, or maybe he doesn't want to alienate the anti- Mormons.  Or, maybe McCain just wanted to try something risky, but which might pay off.  Friends have made fun of me for always trying to think the best of people, but I'd like to hope that the decision wasn't based on romney's religion. call me an optimist.

(btw- I'm LDS)

Answer 3

No

We are counting on bigotry to win this election.

Answer 4

Being wary of cultists is not bigotry. It's a good idea. Are you bigotted against n***s? I thought so. Me too. You see, son.....some "bigotry" is good.

Answer 5

First of all I am relieved he did not choose Romney.  McCain, if elected will hose things over worse than Obama will.  That would be a political death sentance for Romney.  Now Romney still has a chance to be elected in the future if he does run.

I don't know enough about this gal to know whether or not she is a good choice.  Political experience really is meaningless to me.  I hate career polititians, they usually only care about keeping their jobs and are completely out of touch with real Americans and what we think.  But if we are talking about political experience, look at Obama's congressional record.  I think that you will find that he did not show up alot.  So just because he served, does not mean he got much experience from it.  

Leadership, business and life experience is much more important to me, then political experience.  The thing that Mitt Romeny had going for him was his business eperience and leadership experience.  He turned around the SLC Olympics.  One of the ways he made money was to get a failing business and turn it around and make it thrive.  He knew how to do that and was great at it.  Think about how that experience could help in an economy.  That type of leadership and business experience is very appealing to me in a president.

I also want someone who really understands the constitution.  Not what people say it says, what it really says and means.  That is number one on my list.  And they have to be willing to stand up for the Contsitution, even if it is not the popular thing.  A good leader does the right thing, no matter how unpopular that makes him or her.

Besides, Palin was Miss Alaska, what more experience do you need than that?

Answer 6

We have no idea why McCain picked Palin over Romney. You are making assumption with no basis in fact.  You seem to forget that they fought against each other in the primary. Is it possible that McCain held a grudge from that and that religion had nothing to do with him pick.

You have heard that Palin has over 13 years of "executive experience" where Barry has none? This experience has been in a small community but she did run the city and state. When has Barry done that. He voted on some bills (sometimes) but he never had to make important decisions on a daily basis. I'll take her political experience over Barry's.

Answer 7

Your logic fans out nicely, however I'm not sure what makes your initial premise (that Romney was the "obvious" choice for VP) so "obvious". Could you possibly elaborate a bit on what you meant?

If you remember the primaries well, you'd remember that Romney and McCain really didn't like eachother at all. Not to mention each of these candidates are in motion towards opposite ends of the spectrum (though both sill "republican"). We have Romney a former-liberal-republican-turning-more-c... and McCain who is progressively becoming more moderate. The two things that these two really have in common, are abortion and g*y marriage. Since I'd like to believe our nation's problems stem from much more than these two issues, I don't think McCain and Romney would make best of bedfellows.

Answer 8

I don't think so.  McCain was not going to have Romney as the VP.  There is too much personal animosity to reward him.  I think that McCain doesn't want any religious side issues, or he would have considered Huckleberry for more the two seconds.  

McCain will let Romney work for him and raise funds.  He will give him a position in the cabinet.  In the long run that is better for Mitt and the country than casting an occasional tiebreaker in the Senate.  

I would like us to at least go through the convention and we hear more than a sound bite before rendering a judgement on McCains choice.

Answer 9

I disagree with your premis -

I think one of the biggest reasons mccain didn't choose romney was mccain's pride - he always looked like  #2 when standing w romney.  he couldn't match romney's personal presense, charisma and vitality. I don't think that Mccain ever really considered Romney [just used his fundraising abilities].

The politics of selecting Palin were well considered - hubby and I talked about it the days before - he hoped Romney would get the nod but I was convinced that an with Hutchinson being from Texas [Bush home] she would be out - but McCain would be looking for a woman to step into the VP slot.  Hubby brought up Palin and that he really liked her.

Although there were the damning polls which had some 40% voting against Romney because of his religion - I think there were personal issues between the two men which were greater... And I think Palin is going to surprise a lot of people in who she is and what she stands for.

I'm actually slightly critical of Palin because she has children at home and has let herself be distracted by politics [claims of hockey mom, etc - i don't see how a governor has the time to spend w teenagers that they need - and i'm speaking as the mother of teenagers].  To me, raising the children should come first.

btw- as the gov even of alaska [smallest population, perhaps, but biggest area] she has more executive experience [disseminating information, organizing, implementing, etc] than obama's 144 days in the nat. senate and his days in the IL state senate.

Answer 10

Oh, yes, I hear people giving extremely superficial and shallow reasons for supporting either party. It's sad how weak-minded people can be.

Answer 11

You have several problems with your premise.

First, it isn't bigotry to make a better choice.  Romney wasn't by far the "obvious" choice.  His inability to be consistent on issues made him a poor choice.

The VP candidate has two years MORE experience over Obama as an executive.  

Quit the whining about how the poor LDS are abused.  If Romney hadn't been a flake, he might have done better.  It's not always about how America hates Mormons!

Answer 12

I think the Dems are counting on bigotry to win the election.

Obama is playing the race card, and, amazingly, in the 21 century, in the year 2008, it is actually WORKING for him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 13

First off, h**l Friar, bigotry is obviously not what you think it is.

And yes, Romney was the obvious choice. He knew tons more about economics, and after he dropped out McCain and him started getting along. Elections change people. Romney would've definitely balanced the Executive Branch. Sometimes opposites are good. If we have a person on one end of the spectrum and one on the other they're going to have to meet in the middle which is the ideal choice.

Answer 14

If Mitt wasn't a member of our faith, we'd have a different GOP nominee for the position of president, not just VP.

I find it very sad that this election seems to be all about bigotry.  Color, s*x and religion have dominated the media instead of the candidates stances on the issues.  If we truly weren't a bigoted country, color, s*x, and religion wouldn't even enter the discussion when considering political candidates.  Unfortunately, we're not.

For the record, having issue with n**i's is not bigotry.  The n**i's were a political party, so one disagrees with them based on issues and stances.  Mormonism is not a political party, it's a faith.  Downing Romney for being LDS is just as bad as those that tried to attack Obama for his Muslim connections.

Answer 15

I think that Romney's ONLY handicap was his religion. And if McCain had picked him as his running mate (and I think he would have, except that he did a quick about-face after listening to the DNC), that would have been the ONLY reason I would vote GOP. As it is, I will vote my conscience and vote Libertarian.

PS my husband and I were discussing this and he said that, if Obama wins, then Romney has a sincere shot at the White House next. If McCain wins, the best he can hope for after that is VP to Palin, unless she or McCain pull a real ***** of a mistake between now and then.

We joked that Romney will campaign like he wants McCain to win and pray like he wants him to lose! ;-)

One more thing: I think all Mormons should seriously look at the Libertarian and Constitution parties.

Answer 16

I think the left is more bigoted....affirmative action and other racial issues...yes the white man is evil etc. I wanted Romney as well but it is McCain's person to choose. I can't vote for Obama, pro-abortion judges, bigger government, and wasteful spending like crazy. If he wins he will have to do what he said he will do in his speech. He sounded conservative actually in last night's speech. 95% of the country gets tax cuts, cutting the pork in government spending?

I will see it when he does it....Yes I'm picking the less of two evils but I'm pro defense of this country is McCain is the strongest in that and has experience in Washington and his running mate has executive experience that Obama doesn't have in Government.  

I wanted Romney back in February and voted for him, but he is out of the race.

Answer 17

I've never heard of Palin until the announcement so since I know nothing about her and her political background, my initial reaction is to agree with your two points. I would hope that your first point, although a shady technique in my opinion, will work to sway feminist voters eager to see a female VP.

I'm not fond of Obama in the least. I think he's just a puppet who has no thoughts of his own and I don't like the Dems pulling his strings. I believe he has good intentions but intentions aren't enough. He does not have the leadership nor the clout to pull Washington together. That said, McCain is not my favorite, but he has more experience and I think he will do a better job of bringing the war to it's end then Obama ever could.

I agree that Romney was the obvious choice. The government is essentially a business and whether people like to admit it or not, Romney is an excellent businessman. I just hope McCain uses him somehwere. It's terribly sad that many Americans are still hung up on a man's religion. "It's not okay to discriminate against a black man but it's okay to cream the Mormon." I saw a poll the other day that said 40% of Americans would NOT vote for a Mormon. JFK got people over the Catholic issue, I'm sure with time Mormons will pull through as well. I just find it hard to believe that people can't imagine that a politician wouldn't separate himself/herself from their religion when it comes to matters that the people are supposed to decide. As many atheists point out on this site, you don't have to be religious to be moral or ethical.

My two cents.

Answer 18

stupidity.  Remember, McCain didn't need to succumb to warnings and threats.