page_title: Mitt Romney 2008 presidential campaign
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Mitt Romney 2008 presidential campaign / Religion
caption_attribution_description: Mitt Romney in 2007 in Washington, DC at the Values Voters conference
context_page_description: The Mitt Romney presidential campaign of 2008 began on January 3, 2007, two days before Mitt Romney left office as governor of Massachusetts, when he filed to form an exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission to run for President of the United States as a Republican in the 2008 election. Subsequently, on February 13, 2007, he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. He did so at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, as an emblem of American ingenuity.
  Romney was considered a top-tier candidate in his bid for the Republican nomination, despite hurdles such as low name recognition and questions about his Mormon faith. Romney partly financed his campaign with his own personal fortune, having contributed over $35 million of the $90 million raised by his campaign. Despite that, he also raised more money than any other Republican primary candidate.
  In a nationwide poll conducted on January 2, 2008, Romney placed first among Republican voters nationally. However, he came in second in the Iowa caucuses to Mike Huckabee.
context_section_description: Romney is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Though Romney did not win the nomination in 2008, Romney became the first Mormon on a major party's presidential ticket when he won the nomination in 2012. In pursuing the Republican Party presidential nomination, he was following in the footsteps of his father, George W. Romney, who ran for the White House in 1968 and lost; fellow Latter-day Saint Orrin Hatch of Utah, who ran in 2000 and lost; and Joseph Smith, who ran in 1844 but was killed by a mob. In contrast to Hatch's 2000 attempt or Smith's 1844 attempt, Romney was felt to be a major contender and so the effect his religion would have on the election came under serious consideration by pundits. As of September 2007, 75% of the American electorate professed that Mormonism in a candidate would not affect their vote.
  Romney may have been challenged by voters with the concern that a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would take commandments from the president of the church who is regarded as a living prophet. In an interview aired on Fox News Romney said, "America has a political religion, which is to place the oath of office, an oath to abide by a nation of laws and the Constitution, above all others. And there's no question that I make that my primary responsibility." Mike Otterson, an LDS spokesman, said, "The suggestion that a Mormon leader would dictate policy to a President Romney is absurd. I can't imagine any president that would allow that." During the 1960 presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy, similar allegations were made that a Roman Catholic would take orders from the Pope.
  In 2006, the Boston Globe reported that Mitt Romney's son, Josh Romney, and a member of Romney's political action committee in his Salt Lake City office September 19, 2007, did meet with Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to discuss Romney's campaign. According to the Church, the meeting was a courtesy call and that Jeffrey R. Holland reminded the Romneys of the Church's longstanding policy of political neutrality.
  Romney's campaign speeches sometimes contained a standard response to the religion issue as a whole: "I believe in God. I believe in the family. I believe in America's future. It has a great role to preserve the peace on the planet. So the kinds of values I have are very much in line with those of the American people. My guess is as they get to know me better, there will be other faults that they find more troubling."
  In October 2006, Romney asked to meet with a group of influential Christian leaders, including Jerry Falwell, Franklin Graham, Gary Bauer, and Paula White to discuss his presidential candidacy. About a dozen accepted and traveled at their own expense to Boston, gathering at Romney's home in Belmont, Mass. A prominent Evangelical leader, Dr. James Dobson, has not ruled out supporting him, while at the same time, Dobson has ruled out supporting Fred Thompson, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.
  Romney gave a speech entitled "Faith in America," Thursday, December 6, at the George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library in Texas, with the former president providing introductory remarks. The speech, which was widely regarded as referencing that of then-Senator John F. Kennedy's September 1960 pledge not to allow Catholic doctrine to inform policy, discussed the role of religion in American society and politics; Romney said he would not allow any authorities from any religion, including his own, to influence presidential decisions. He avoided speaking about specific Latter-day Saint doctrines, as he stated that by forcing him to become the spokesperson for his faith, it would be enabling "the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution." Instead, he addressed religion in general, saying "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom.".
  In December 2007, rival candidate, Mike Huckabee, when asked by the New York Times if he personally considered the LDS faith a cult or a religion, 
caption: Romney speaking in October 2007 before the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C..
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