Kevin Drum reminds of an article on the topic from 2005, written by Amy Sullivan. Sullivan's main point is much like the one made by a new-fired Gingrich staffer earlier this week:
But moderate Republicans aren't the ones who could derail a Romney candidacy. His obstacle is the evangelical base--a voting bloc that now makes up 30 percent of the Republican electorate and that wields particular influence in primary states like South Carolina and Virginia. Just as it is hard to overestimate the importance of evangelicalism in the modern Republican Party, it is nearly impossible to overemphasize the problem evangelicals have with Mormonism. Evangelicals don't have the same vague anti-LDS prejudice that some Americans do. For them it's a doctrinal thing, based on very specific theological disputes that can't be overcome by personality or charm or even shared positions on social issues. Romney's journalistic boosters either don't understand these doctrinal issues or try to sidestep them. But ignoring them won't make them go away. To evangelicals, Mormonism isn't just another religion. It's a cult.
Or, as Gingrich's staffer gaffed:
A lot of the evangelicals believe God would give us four more years of Obama just for the opportunity to expose the cult of Mormon. There’s a thousand pastors ready to do that.
This is, I think, the great unacknowledged sleeper issue in the Republican campaign. And while none of his opponants wants to make too big a deal of it (Perry's occasional supporters notwithstanding), I suspect that among evangelical Christians, it is an issue that is roiling just beneath the surface. It remains to be seen whether it will have an effect on the final outcome of the race, but even if Romney secures the nomination, he's going to have to work hard to convince already-unenthusiastic evangelicals to come out to support him in November if he has a hope of winning the election.
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