Polling - Not as bad as you might think, despite a higher than other polls for a "will not vote for a Mormon" number, consider:

Currently, just 19% of Likely Voters are able to identify Romney as the Mormon candidate from a list of six potential Presidential candidates.

and he has a 41% "don't know" on favorable/unfavorable polling.  Lots of room to manuever here.  But of course, none of that shows up before the middle of the story.

Lowell:  I'm a Political Science major, and one of the few really useful things that discipline teaches is how to read polls.  (I was even a door-to-door pollster in college.)  I don't know the questions or the data used in this poll, but one principle leaps to mind:  If a poll's results seem wildly counter-intuitive, start asking questions.  Here's one:  Do we really think almost half of Americans cannot see themselves voting for a Mormon?  We will be looking more closely at this poll in the days ahead.

It's good to know that the people opposing Romney's continuing gay-marriage efforts in Mass. are such fine upstanding citizens.

Bush discusses religious freedom.  So does the Pope.  Says the Pope:

An adequate respect for the right to religious freedom implicates, therefore, the engagement of civil power to “create conditions favourable to the fostering of religious life, in order that the people may be truly enabled to exercise their religious rights and to fulfill their religious duties, and also in order that society itself may profit by the moral qualities of justice and peace which have their origin in men's faithfulness to God and to His holy will"

When we VOTE, we "engage civil power."  If we decide to vote based on the religious affiliation of a candidate, don't you think we create UNfavorable conditions for "fostering religious life" for at least some religions?

Mark Steyn analyzes Republican divisions.  I think the best '08 presidential candidate is going to appeal to both "sub-parties."  Lowell:  Steyn says:

Someone in the GOP needs to do what Ronald Reagan did so brilliantly a quarter-century ago:reconcile the big challenges abroad with a small-government philosophy at home. The House and the Senate will not return to Republican hands until they do.

So looking at the field, who's that candidate?  Giuliani?  Well no.  McCain?  Strong on foreign policy, but small-government?  Not reliably so, if at all.  Romney?  Well, this is not a partisan blog, so we won't go there. 

Captain Ed looks at blogging and elections.

FOXNews surveys the field.

Charmaine Yoest of the Family Research Council comments on FOXNews on "The Question."

LATE-BREAKING UPDATE FROM JOHN: WaPo stealth attack?  Nah, couldn't be, they're the un-biased MSM., and I never engage in sarcasm.  K-Lo provides some balance.

One more update from Lowell:  Until today I had missed this post on Evangelicals for Mitt.  I really consider it a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Mormon views about Jesus Christ.

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