The "Real" Reason Romney and Huntsman Will Struggle - Foreign Policy

I am usually a fan of Foreign Policy magazine...its articles generally get me thinking.

This article, however, was a little harder to understand. She talks about Mormons, and she talks about Romney and Huntsman. But I had to read it a few times to get what she was trying to say with the following tagline:

Mormonism will affect the foreign policies of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman -- just not in the way you might expect

Her basic thesis (I think) is that Romney and Huntsman's Mormon upbringing make them pragmatists and patriots. She does so while distancing the current candidates from Joseph Smith (whom she paints in a pretty negative light).

That "pragmatic" and "patriotic" thesis is not so bad....I think.

In the end, she states that Romney's and Huntsman's (Mormon-bred) pragmatism will be their downfall as (she believes) voters tend to want more polarized figures.

While her statements on Joseph Smith illustrate she tends to listen closer to those antagonistic about him, her opinions on Romney and Huntsman are that, while highly qualified and have good intentions, they will have a harder time getting to the White House for reasons most scholars are overlooking.

So here is the article.

The Missionary Position

Mormonism will affect the foreign policies of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman -- just not in the way you might expect.

BY MOLLY WORTHEN | JUNE 13, 2011

When Joseph Smith, the religious genius and sometime-treasure hunter who founded the Mormon faith, announced in 1844 that he was running for president of the United States, international affairs were not his top priority. In a pamphlet outlining his campaign platform, Smith quoted James Madison's inaugural address declaring that he would "cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations." But he never got the chance to elaborate on his foreign policy: Later that year, while Smith was in jail awaiting trial on charges that he had ordered the destruction of an anti-Mormon newspaper, a mob of armed men stormed his cell and fatally shot him as he jumped out of the window.

To read the full article, go here.

Is America ready for a President who is Mormon? - The Economist

Joseph Smith tried it. Mitt Romney and his father have both run. David O. McKay asked former Secretary of Agriculture (and then Apostle) Ezra Taft Benson not to run.

The current Senate Majority leader is Mormon. Is America ready for a President who is Mormon?

Mormons

They're here, they're square, get used to it!

"There's a significant possibility that 2012 will be the year that America confronts the question of whether a Mormon can be president. It seems like a question with an obvious answer ("I don't know. Can he?"). But surveys in recent years have consistently found that a large minority of voters are set against the idea, and the prejudice may be even more deeply rooted among a Republican primary electorate."

To read the full article, go here.