Romney testing Mormon faith in fundamentalist W.Va.?

By Mannix Porterfield

Across the mountains and down in the tucked-away hollows of West Virginia, and inside the high-steepled churches of metropolitan areas, the faith preached in the vast majority of pulpits is Protestantism, be it fundamentalism or mainstream.

That translates into Presbyterians, Lutherans, Wesleyans, Baptists, Methodists, Assemblies of God, Nazarenes and the like.

When it comes to Mormons, their churches are few in number and sparsely spread throughout the state.

Which raises a question in the mind of a key Republican leader: Is Mitt Romney spending so much time in West Virginia to tacitly test his strength as a Mormon in the same fashion, sans the media fanfare, that John F. Kennedy put his Roman Catholicism on the line in 1960?

Kennedy’s faith, as well as his candidacy, was under the microscope continually as he stumped for votes against fellow Democrat Hubert Humphrey that year.

In the end, some might argue, it was simply a matter of Humphrey running out of money, rather than religion, but the Kennedy campaign, intentional or not, proved a Catholic could win in a state where most folks toted a Protestant Bible to church.

“I believe Mitt Romney is getting the same idea,” says Dr. Doug McKinney, chairman of the state Republican Party.

“He’s trying to prove a Mormon can win anywhere. I know the history of what he’s doing. I think that’s a part of what he’s coming here for.”

Romney campaigned extensively last October for GOP candidates, and in the heat of this summer, he walked through the grounds of the State Fair at Fairlea. So far, he has made three visits, and a fourth one is likely soon, aides say.

Bill Phillips, an operations manager for the former Massachusetts governor, says Romney’s singular motive is to corral as many Republican votes as possible, simply because he seeks the White House and that’s what candidates do.

No one in the Romney base camp in Boston is getting into the Mormon factor.

Yet, they are quick to quote a line their man has used before when others in the media raised the faith question: “I’m running for commander-in-chief, not pastor-in-chief.”

Mormons are considered politically conservative for the most part, high on family values. In Charleston, at the church’s mission quarters, a Web site puts the number of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in West Virginia at 12,900.

McKinney emphasized he wasn’t disparaging Mormon beliefs in any way, but merely found a parallel between Kennedy’s venture into West Virginia and now Romney’s frequent visits.

As a high schooler, McKinney saw the youthful Kennedy pitch for votes from the back of a flatbed truck in downtown Mullens.

“That was the closest I ever came to him,” he said.

“Everyone sees these kids in white shirts and black ties walking all over the state, spreading the (Mormon) word. You’ve got to hand it to people like that. In my experience (as a doctor), they all paid their bills and all have been honest people. They help each other all that they can. What bad can you say about a religion like that? I think we could all learn a lot from them myself.”

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mannix@register-herald.com