Social conservative Rick Santorum told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he hopes Christian voters can overlook Jon Huntsman's and Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.Santorum, a devout Catholic, weighed in on the debate between evangelicals and Mormons during a Sunday television interview with moderator David Gregory.Gregory asked the former Pennsylvania senator if Huntsman and Romney will have problems in the race as Mormons. Santorum answered, "I hope not."He continued, "I hope that people will look at the qualities of candidates and look at what they believe and what they're for and look their records and then make a decision."Santorum, a champion for social conservative issues, is the latest to weigh in on the contentious question, should Christians support a Mormon candidate for president.
As a Mormon myself, I appreciate Rick Santorum's comments. Catholics can understand the challenges that Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman faces because many people were unwilling to vote for John F. Kennedy merely because he was a Catholic.
I look forward to the day when people will stop refusing to vote for a candidate merely because they are Jewish, Hindu, Mormon, Catholic, Buddhist, Evangelical, Zoroastrian, Muslim, Baptist, B'hai; or if they are atheist or agnostic. A candidate's religion, or lack there of, should not be an issue in any election in the future regardless if it is local, state or national campaign.
People should focus on the candidate's political experience, values and positions. In other words, its all about a candidate's qualification, not his religion. There are a lot of great candidates in the 2012 election who have great resumes and who have conservative values. However, among the field of very qualified candidates, we're looking for the most qualified person for the job. We're looking for the best of the best.
As a result, the number one question of this election is this: who is the most qualified person to be President?
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