Can Mitt Romney Win The Republican Presidential Nomination?

Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, announced that he has formed an exploratory committee to determine whether he can raise enough funds and support to run for the Republican Party's presidential nomination. Romney, who turns 60 this year, has some important credentials that will allow him to curry favour among the Republican Party's Christian right, especially through his views on same-sex marriage, abortion and the place of religion in public life.

Despite some solid "family values" credentials, Romney's main problem will be his own religious beliefs. Romney is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the Mormons, who have historically had very strained relations with mainstream Protestant denominations. Most Evangelical Christians--the core of the Republican Party's right-wing--see Mormonism as a cult, rather than a legitimate Christian church.

It is doubtful that the Chistian right will warm to Romney, even if he is a supporter of Christian family values, the traditional definition of marriage and legislation that would curtail abortion. In 1960, John F. Kennedy faced a similar challenge, when he became America's first Roman Catholic president. Romney's challenge, however, will be much tougher, because there remains a great deal of suspicion toward the LDS Church, which maintains that its leader is a prophet of God.