New York, USA - The religious divide over Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith that his supporters had long feared would occur is emerging in Iowa as he is being challenged in state polls by Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor who has played up his faith in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Mr. Huckabee’s rise in Iowa — some recent polls now put him in a dead heat with Mr. Romney, who had led surveys for months — has been fueled by evangelical Christians, who believe Mormonism runs counter to Christian orthodoxy.
Although Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has been able to make inroads among the evangelicals, an influential voting bloc in the state, interviews with Mr. Huckabee’s supporters make clear that a sizable number are distinctly uncomfortable with Mr. Romney’s religion and cite it as a major reason they would not vote for him in the state’s Jan. 3 caucuses.
On Monday, Mr. Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, raised the stakes when he began broadcasting an advertisement in Iowa that emphasizes his faith and declares him to be a “Christian leader” — all in capital letters — which some might view as a shot at Mr. Romney.
Chip Saltsman, Mr. Huckabee’s campaign manager, said the campaign had no intention of making any kind of allusion to Mr. Romney’s being a Mormon, saying the idea was simply to introduce Mr. Huckabee to Iowans.
“It’s not like this is a new issue for him,” said Mr. Saltsman, referring to Mr. Huckabee’s faith. “He’s talked about this issue everywhere he goes.”
Mr. Huckabee’s advisers admit privately they are cognizant of how Mr. Romney’s religion can work against him and how Mr. Huckabee’s evangelical roots are to their advantage at least among some voters. They pointed out, however, that all candidates have aspects of their biographies that can be beneficial or not, depending on the audience.
The issue is a delicate one for Mr. Huckabee. He has waffled in recent interviews about whether he considers Mormons to be Christians. The Southern Baptist Convention, the denomination he is a part of, does not consider Mormons to be part of historic Christianity.
At Huckabee gatherings, those with serious reservations about Mr. Romney’s Mormonism are easy to find, although many also point to his shifting positions over the years on abortion and gay rights to explain why they do not support him.
Barbara Heki, 51, from Johnston, Iowa, who began volunteering for Mr. Huckabee over the summer, compared Mr. Romney to Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who was dogged by accusations of flip-flopping when he ran for president in 2004. Nevertheless, Ms. Heki admitted that her evangelical faith also figured prominently in her choice.
“Mormons spend two years of their lives as missionaries, preaching an anti-Christian doctrine,” she said. “I don’t want someone out there, if I can help it, who’s going to be acting on an anti-Christian faith as the basis of their decision-making.”
Polling on the Mormon issue is often difficult because of respondents’ reluctance to admit bias in surveys. A New York Times/CBS News poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers released Nov. 13 found that about two-thirds of Mr. Huckabee’s supporters are evangelicals, compared with about one-third of Mr. Romney’s.
The survey found over all that Mr. Romney was in a tight race with Mr. Huckabee, 27 percent to 21 percent. Among evangelicals, 36 percent favored Mr. Huckabee and 22 percent Mr. Romney, even though they said in almost equal numbers that Mr. Romney and Mr. Huckabee each shared the values of most Iowans.
Danny Carroll, a former speaker pro tem in the Iowa House and Mr. Huckabee’s Iowa campaign co-chairman, said he was drawn to Mr. Huckabee in large part because of the way religion permeates the former Arkansas governor’s life. Mr. Carroll said he had reservations about Mr. Romney because of his more moderate past positions in addition to his religion, saying he was concerned about where Mr. Romney went for strength and wisdom.
“I think it just causes some uneasiness as to how somebody is going to respond when heavy responsibility is placed on them,” Mr. Carroll said. “I think the Christian would like to know that the person has a strong anchor and prays to the God of the Bible.”
At a recent Huckabee event in Iowa, Glenda Gherkey, an evangelical from Evansdale, posed a question to the candidate.
“I’m concerned a lot of Christians are thinking about the values issues and forgetting about the creator behind the values issues,” Ms. Gherkey said. “I guess I feel like this country and this world needs a president who would be able to pray to the God of the Bible and he would be able to hear his prayers.”
She wondered, Would Mr. Romney’s prayers “even get through”?
In response, Mr. Huckabee said he did not want to “speak for any other candidate or denigrate them at all.”
But he added: “My views are what they are. I don’t think I’ve ever hidden where they come from.”
He then tried to make a joke: “I’m glad you’ve made your choice for me. I don’t care why. I’m just glad you did.”