US presidential elections 2012: Electing between a Mormon and a ‘Muslim’

September 13, 2012 | Filed under: opinion | Posted by:

By Syed Ubaidur Rahman (NVONews.Com)

After the national conventions of Republican and Democratic parties fresh battlelines are being drawn for the Nov 6 presidential elections in the United States. However, the issue is once again whether to choose a ‘non-Christian’ Mormon or a ‘Muslim’ who practices Christianity.

While President Barack Husain Obama enjoys a slender edge, there are innumerable voters who have strong reservation over his party’s policies on gay marriages, abortion etc. But some voters still question his origin.

Nothing can be summed up better than what Dianna McCullough, a retired factory worker, commented recently on same-sex policy of the Democrats: “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” However, she is undecided as she has a strong reservation over Mitt Romney’s faith too. “Mormons don’t believe like we believe,” the elderly lady said. Many Conservatives do not consider Mormon as Christian. That is why Romney is facing difficulty even in the great Bible Belt of South, where White voters generally opt for Republicans. The evangelicals view Mormonism as a cult.

Yet Romney seeks to make common ground with evangelists. Without directly mentioning the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as the Mormon church is formally known, he recently said: “People of different faiths, like yours and mine…can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview.”

However, according to the recent Reuters/Ipsos polling data, 35 percent of voters overall, and the same proportion of lower- and middle-income White Bible Belt voters, say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who is Mormon.

Besides, many Americans simply dislike him as he is filthy rich and his economic policy is pro-rich. Be it First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton or Barack Obama himself, they all targeted Romney’ss economic policy and, what they say, tax concession to rich in their speeches during the Democratic Party National Convention. The President then mocked Republican’s “tax breaks for millionaires”

Contrary to Grand Old Party, President Obama last time got votes of traditional Republican supporters too. Apart from other factors his upbringing as a common man also contributed to his victory. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, comes from upper class.

Yet a large section of electorate, especially in the southern states, feel that President Barack Obama is a Muslim. This despite all evidence that he is practicing Christian. His father was a Muslim from Kenya who migrated to the United States.

If Romney is trying to woo the Conservative Christians, Obama has shown no leniency in dealing with Muslim countries, be it Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Iran and even Iraq. And what he did to Osama Bin Laden and Pakistan is known to all.

After all Obama won 80 percent of minority votes––African-Americans, Latinos and others––in 2008. If Romney wants to win he must at least garner more than 60 percent of the White votes.

Shortlink:

Posted by on September 13, 2012. Filed under opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
  • Jero signals

    Mr obama is wright man for america coz he found abad condition for her economy,ithink needs time with him

  • http://msn lady

    Mormons ARE Christians! How can the name of the church “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” not indicate Christianity? Each of the protestant spin-offs from the Catholic church was considered heresy in their times as well, and each of their founders was prosecuted, similar to what “mormons” endured and continue to endure. However they are ALL Christians. There should be no debate on that. And you don’t hear about the Book of Mormon (the “Mormon Bible”) saying anything about killing all non-believers – unlike the Koran. Muslims are dangerous to the Christian way of life.