For the past couple of months, political commentators have been scratching their heads in wonderment as they ask the musical question "Why can't Mitt Romney break 25-28-30 percent?" in the polls in the race for the GOP nomination for president.
But some of those same polls show Romney extremely competitive in a general election showdown against President Obama.
Might it be the fact that there are is a certain percentage of GOP primary voters who simply won't vote for a Mormon?
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a survey on Wednesday that shows that the former Massachusetts' Governor's religion does matter to a segment of the Republican primary voting base.
As Pew reports:
White evangelical Protestants — a key element of the GOP electoral base — are more inclined than the public as a whole to view Mormonism as a non-Christian faith. And this view is linked to opinions about Romney: Republicans who say Mormonism is not a Christian religion are less likely to support Romney for the GOP nomination and offer a less favorable assessment of him generally. But they seem prepared to overwhelmingly back him in a run against Obama in the general election.
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2011.
