“I would call upon Governor Perry to repudiate the sentiment and the remarks made by that pastor,’’ Romney said Tuesday at one of the highest-profile events of his campaign, an endorsement by New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie.
Added Romney: “I just don’t believe that that kind of divisiveness based upon religion has a place in this country.’’
Such a response represents a shift for the candidate, Romney advisers say.
“It’s not political. It’s personal,’’ said one adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a topic considered sensitive. “And he feels there’s no place in this campaign for it.’’
Mark DeMoss, an evangelical public relations executive who supports Romney, was with Romney for several hours over the weekend after the comments were made. “On a very personal level, I hurt for him. I was embarrassed as an evangelical that another evangelical would do what Robert Jeffress did,’’ DeMoss said. “I don’t blame [Romney] for being fed up with it.’’
Jeffress did not respond yesterday to requests for comment.
Romney has had a trying relationship with religious conservatives, who make up a key part of Perry’s base. Even after his address on his faith in late 2007, the level of distrust remains high. In a New York Times-CBS News poll released last month, more than one third of likely Republican voters said most people they know would not vote for a Mormon.
Evangelicals are an important voting bloc, particularly throughout the South and in some early-voting states, such as Iowa.
Some party leaders in the Hawkeye State yesterday downplayed the flareup over religion.
“I don’t want to get into the whole Mormon debate,’’ said Steve Scheffler, an evangelical leader and a Republican National Committee member from Iowa. “The bigger concern right now is whether he’s willing to come and engage with caucus-goers.’’
Scheffler’s group, the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, is hosting a presidential forum Oct. 22 that most of the candidates are planning to attend, but so far, Romney is not among them.
