A Republican Party whose more energetic precincts have been gripped throughout the Obama presidency by a desire to expel moderates and upend the establishment will have put itself in the hands of a candidate who, more than anyone in the race, comes out of a moderate, establishment Republican tradition.

But to get there — or get there without a protracted battle — he will have to fend off efforts by his rivals in South Carolina to emerge as the singular anti-Romney candidate.

With little left to lose, Newt Gingrich and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas are already assailing him as a heartless job killer in South Carolina, a state hit far harder by the economic downturn than Iowa and New Hampshire were.

But just fending off that attack may not be enough. He is also heading smack into an issue that has followed him through his national political career: his Mormon faith and the suspicion many evangelical Christians have of it.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Rural/Town Life • Urban/City Life and Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • Politics in General • * South Carolina

1. AnglicanFirst wrote: The Mormon faith of Romney is being used as a “red herring” to distract voters from following the trail of the critical public issues which should be discussed in the public arena prior to this year’s presidential election. Politicians of both major parties have issues that they do not want to publically discuss, in fact, they’d like to bury them. If we had an objective and unbiased public press media, then most if not all relevant political issues would be discussed publically prior to this upcoming election. For those who don not understand the need for an objective public press media, please go and read the relevant parts of the Federalist Papers. January 11, 6:23 pm | [comment link]

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