Will Mormon Religion Hurt Mitt Romney?

Within the presidential campaign for the Republican nomination it is coming down to two candidates about to fight it out.

Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

The others (minus Jon Huntsman) are just adding humor for late night talk-show monologues.

While many topics such as immigration and job creation get tossed about in debates there is one topic that is under the radar, but it will be pivotal in deciding the nominee.  I have suggested before on CP that religion is going to play a major role for some conservatives in the nominating process in those places where Republicans find religion as comforting as their gun.

The fight over Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith is yet to register, and when it does I suspect it will take place quietly in churches and in mailings to certain demographics at primary time.  Nothing will be stated in bold flashy wording , but instead there will be pictures of Perry clutching a Bible in front of a church with quotes about his faith as a Christian.  The underlying message will be clear about his opponent.

The press has paid only a bit of attention to this matter, but I noted today that a story printed around the country speaks to the religious issue that Romney faces.

In June, a Gallup Poll found that 1 in 5 Republicans would simply refuse to vote for anyone of the Mormon faith, period.

If even half that many Republicans reject Romney or former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman over religion, they would start 10 points behind in primary states such as Iowa and South Carolina that Perry’s strategists consider launch pads to the nomination.

“Nobody’s talking about religion right now because everybody’s too busy talking about the tea party,” said Mark Silk, a religion professor at Trinity College in Connecticut. He co-wrote a study on how in 2008, evangelical opposition kept Romney stalled behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

“I think if Romney is the nominee, evangelicals will support him,” Silk said.

“But if the primary matchup is Romney against an evangelical – given the way the Republican electorate is, that’s the way the vote will go.”