The Press Mocks Conservative Candidates Religions – from Santorum’s Catholic Faith to Mitt Romney’s Mormonism – The Elite Media Shows Bigotry

Santorum the Catholic, Romney the Mormon, Obama the Christian, only one of three can have faith in Media's mind -image salon.com

When Rick Santorum was the first GOP Candidate to passionately defend the Catholic Church against the Obama Administrations mandate that they provide insurance to their privately held, (religious organization) charities and entities that included abortion and sterilization (which is not, for those who are not familiar with the major religions, acceptable under any circumstances), the media, from both the right and the left began to question Santorum on his Catholic Faith. They dug up old lectures he gave at a Catholic College, as proof that he might be too far right or too radical as he believed in God and Satan (as do most religions and those who are of faith), the remarks he made speaking as a Catholic, rather than how had voted in the Senate, will be found in many an article, not particularly honest of the press, which is from the right and the left - Matt Drudge to name a major paper, cable news outlet or the so called “Big 3” (CBS, NBC, ABC) televised news outlets. It was a strong message of anti-Catholicism, which has been lying underneath the surface and is now out in the mainstream in full force. The media are saying a practicing Catholic, holding mainstream Catholic views, is somehow…not acceptable.

The same with former Governor Mike Huckabee’s Baptist faith, in 2008, or any candidate that holds Christian views regardless of the denomination.

Now, a columnist for the New York Times feels fine mock Mitt Romney’s Mormonism in a “Tweet” to followers on Face book “Charles M Blow” tweeted: “Let me just tell you this “Mitt Muddlemouth”: I’m a single parent and my kids are amazing! Stick that in your “magic underwear”. #cnndebate”National Review. The National Review links to an article explaining the use of special garments for men in Mormon Religious Practices here at: www.ldschurchtemples.com/mormon/underwear”

This is what happens if one is a member of any religion and is running as a Conservative or Republican GOP Candidate for office – However, did the media cover any of the views held by President Obama’s church of choice? (With the exception of FOX). A Christian Church in Chicago headed by the Revered Wright who used extreme anti-American rhetoric during his “services”, the press waited while the President sat in that Church for decades and then threw the Reverend under the buss at which time, they reported on Obama’s distancing himself from those remarks . Now, whenever the President, who is a Christian, uses his faith to support an agenda, that’s all fine and dandy and is reported by every news outlet available. Yet, he is not “mocked” for being a Christian?

Apparently it depends upon which side of the political aisle one is associated with as to whether or not they, as an American running for President (or any other office) is as a Catholic, or in Romney’s case a Mormon, qualified due to having a “faith”. Although the coverage on Romney’s faith has been limited to this one remark, (so far – although brought up as in “will they attack his faith” – meaning the Religious Right – while in reality it is the secular left that despises all faith.) Rick Santorum was under fire constantly. It is the point from the media however, that we, as American’s have the right to choose any religion we please, under the first amendment, Be that Catholic or Baptist or Buddhist, or Muslim or Mormon, but don’t run for office if you are a Conservative or Moderate Republican.

Romney in Ma – Running Negative Ads against Santorum – Santorum Makes Indiana Ballot – Gingrich/Santorum on Arkansas Ballot

Santorum and Gingrich - the last men standing? Photo: Politico


Presidential GOP Candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign issues a press release noting that the former Governor’s surrogates will be speaking on his behalf in Press Conference in Boston:
“On Friday, House Minority leader Brad Jones and Citizens for Limited Taxation Executive Director Barbara Anderson will hold a press conference call to discuss Mitt Romney’s bold economic plan for more jobs, less debt, and smaller government.”

To date, that press conference, and a slew of negative campaign ads by Romney’s PAC, targeting Rick Santorum, is the only reference to Mitt Romney one can see in the Bay State. If one thinks that Michigan is critical to the candidacy of Mitt Romney, then one must imagine if he is rejected out of hand by the residents of the state in which he claims to have cut taxes, and most recently, claimed to have helped the Catholic Church.

Although Romney is polling well in a recent statewide issues poll conducted by Suffolk University (PDF here), on the 17th of February, the sample of 172 voters is such a small margin, that it is difficult to assess as credible. Rick Santorum has a 15% of the vote in this particular poll understanding that Massachusetts is a proportional delegate state, and with 15% of the primary vote, one is eligible for delegates. No other candidate comes close to those margins in the Bay State. To accurately assess Massachusetts, with the primary on Super Tuesday and 41 delegates at stake, (Delegates that Romney desperately needs) – internal polls might suggest the need for negative advertising, as well as more surrogate activity in the State.

As always, this blog urges non-Bay State pollsters, such as Public Policy Polling to conduct a Massachusetts Survey – the last poll conducted showed Romney with a huge lead, in September of 2011 – one might consider things have changed since that time.
Without polling however, or polling that is limited in scope, should Santorum surge in Massachusetts – and capture a greater percentage that 15, or, for the sake of argument, actually bests Romney is the Bay State – based on the ground here in the Bluest State (Santorum is generating the same type of enthusiasm two weeks out of the primary that there was for Scott Brown one week out from the January 19, 2010 special election for the Senate.) One might consider the recent attacks on the Catholic Church as reasoning, with Santorum leading the defense of the Church earlier than the other GOP contenders – as reasoning – given the fact that the majority of Massachusetts residents are Catholic, however, that is most probably not the case. The major factor would be the lack of enthusiasm for the former Governor. This is based on residency and other factors on the ground in MA – it is most likely that there will be few to no outside polls for Massachusetts, as it is normally assumed the Bay State will be “solid Democrat” and that there are no Conservatives in Massachusetts. A note: negative advertising, in more than any other state in the union, does not do well in the Bay State and has crushed many campaigns.

Again, one does not run advertising, especially when is spending more than one takes in, and to boot one lacks the necessary individual donations, unless there is a problem in “river city”. There is an excellent analysis of the FEC filing reports for January of this year, by the New York Times Romeny’s Money Problems” The Title says it all, but it is a must-read to understand where the actual voters are investing, rather than the P.A.C.’s.

On Making the Grade:

Rick Santorumwill be on the Ballot in Indiana – due to a recount of signatures, finding in favor of Santorum.
Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are the only two that have filed with the State of Arkansas as of yesterday according to Arkansas news sources From the Secretary of State’s office Santorum and Gingrich are the only two GOP candidates on the Ballot The deadline for filing is March 1st - The State of Arkansas holds it primary on May 22nd.

One can take the aforementioned (reading tea leaves) two ways, Romney’s Camp is waiting to get into Arkansas or hasn’t taken the time, and/or they may be looking at where best to spend the money to get onto ballots – Should Santorum pull out one or both States on Feb. 28th (given the polling is so tight in both Arizona and Michigan – similar, again, to polling in Colorado and Minnesota prior the primary), then pull down Romney’s Gubernatorial state in the Super Tuesday Primary - it would be hard to imagine Romney going further, as the delegate count, despite those super-delegates, would not warrant an extended campaign.

Granted, this is based on the old theory of History Repeating Itself – which is usually the case. However, with the layout of the remaining states, money considerations and the lack of enthusiasm for certain candidates over others, (in large enough numbers) it might very well be Santorum and Gingrich as the last men standing heading into April.

Public Service Announcment: Rick Santorum is On the Ballot In Massachusetts

The search for "Is Rick Santorum on the Massachusetts Ballot" (or a number of variations) has hit this blog tracking with over 100 queries in the last 24 hours, therefore, as a public service announcement, Rick Santorum is indeed on the ballot. This information can be confirmed at the Secretary of State's website. In fact, this website also contains a section where one can request state govenrment documents from the historical archive (This would include former Governor Mitt Romney's written records, not the computer records which were destroyed)

The Santorum Team, to date, is the only campaign with a grassroots organization on the ground, Facebook offers information: Rick Santorum MASS

Ron Paul Supporters are using "meetup"

Of note: The Romney PAC: Restoring Our Future is running ads against Satnroum in MA. The delegates in MA will be awarded proportionally with 15% of the vote - Currenlty polling shows Romny in the lead in MA, however, Santorum with sufficient support to be granted delegates.

Then again, internal polling may show otherwise, as, again, Romney's PAC, Restore our Future, is running negative ads against Santorum in the Bay State.