From Gretchen Carlson's interview with Mitt Romney this morning.
CARLSON: Do you think that if you ran again for political office that being a Mormon would be a political liability?
ROMNEY: You know, I think it's a liability for some, and an advantage for others. For some people, they look and say "I like having an individual who's a person of faith".
For some people, it may be a liability if they feel it's a faith they're not familiar with. I frankly think for most Americans, they don't judge a candidate by what church they go to. They judge the candidate by the things they believe, their positions on issues, their capabilities, their skills.
The Mormonism issue is why Rick Santorum's candidacy would be cheered by the Romney camp. The more socially-conservative candidates with traditional faiths, the better.
In fact, in August, Michael Roston openly wondered whether Santorum was "trying to save the GOP from Sarah Palin" by running.
.... what I think he’s really doing is a favor for his friend Mitt Romney, hoping to undercut Sarah Palin’s votes within the Republican Party’s ‘base’ of religious voters, and, in his view, possibly saving the GOP in the process.
As proof of Santorum's possible grudge against the ex-Governor, he points to Santorum's comments after Palin resigned.
"Her [Palin's] biggest fans that I know is my wife, Karen (ph), and she loves her, and she felt really bad that she quit.
She felt like, number one, it hurt her, it hurt Sarah. And number two, it hurt women in politics. And although my wife is not an elected official, she was very much a part of my career and she was always trying to promote women in politics. And it looks like, you know, she couldn’t take it, and that’s not a good thing for women."
