My roommate and I were watching C-SPAN Saturday morning and caught an hour-long town hall meeting featuring Mitt Romney. The event was dubbed an “Ask Mitt Anything” Q&A session with New Hampshire citizens. It was definitely not a scripted affair, because Mitt had to listen to some very bizarre questions and was challenged a few times by angry rants and raves.

Throughout this nightmare scenario Mitt stood up and answered every question intelligently and with genuine passion, each response generating thundering applause. It was impressive. Mitt was smooth, Mitt was sharp, Mitt was the kind of guy you could really support. Near the end of the session, Mitt stared down a hostile immigration question so quickly and easily that my Kucinich-loving roommate turned to me and said “Why isn’t he destroying the competition in this race?”

Its a good question - Mitt has an incredible record of success in the private and public sectors of this country. You could even make an argument that Mitt Romney is one of the best managers in America. Not the best businessman, not the best politician, but the best manager. He runs massive organizations and governments quite well, regardless of scope or spectrum. Very few people can claim to have achieved as much as he has. Yet Republicans are not voting for him. Hell, I just called him a genius and even I passed him over for my Republican nomination for President. Why?

Quick answer - because he’s Mormon, and a good portion of this country views Mormons with a combination of distrust, incredulity, and exasperation. No one’s going to say it out loud, but I strongly believe most Americans (Democrat, Republican, and Independent) consider a vote for Romney to be a vote for a Joseph Smith.

But it got to me thinking, what’s the worst that could happen if Mitt Romney was elected President? Would he demand to take the oath of office on the Book of Mormon? Would he legalize polygamy? Would he suddenly start wearing short-sleeved shirts and ties everywhere he went? Absolutely not. In fact, Mitt will probably spend his administration going out of his way to be as non-Mormon as possible, just like he did in Massachusetts.

For a comparison, let’s look at the guy who’s currently beating him - Mike Huckabee, a former evangelical preacher whose entire base consists of evangelical Christians that watch the “600 Club” every week and think the Earth was created 6,000 years ago. Unlike Romney, Huckabee relishes in his religion, he swims in it - and its brought him untold success so far. If Huckabee were to win the Presidency, he would become the anti-Romney - He could very well percieve his victory as a “Mandate from God.” What’s the worst that could happen then?

And, what the hell, let’s talk about Ron Paul. I was under the impression Ron Paul wasn’t religious and instead worshiped crazy, but as it turns out he’s a big time fan of Christianity and its importance to America. Here’s a quote:

“The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance.” –Ron Crazy

Eclipsing the state in importance? Wouldn’t that lead to mini-theocracies in every town, drawn along religious lines, all of whom take presidence over the government? Really? Ron that’s crazy. You’re crazy, Ron.

I ask everyone to stand back and take a clinical look at these three candidates (well, mostly Huckabee and Romney) and question who’s really influenced by their religion, who’s religious beliefs are potentially dangerous for America. I’m not going to vote for Mitt (for various reasons) but at the very least he deserves a second look and the benefit of the doubt from his party.

Oh, and he just won Wyoming.