Romney: Attacking My Religion Goes 'Too Far'

Exclusive: Romney on his run, faith

On this morning's Today Show, Mitt Romney replied to Huckabee's question to the New York Times Magazine about whether Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers. The AP has the wrap:

In an article to be published Sunday in the New York Times, the front-running Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

Romney, vying to become the first Mormon elected president, refused to answer that question during an interview Wednesday, saying church leaders in Salt Lake City had already addressed the topic.

"But I think attacking someone's religion is really going too far. It's just not the American way, and I think people will reject that," Romney told NBC's "Today" show.

Asked if he believed Huckabee was speaking in a coded language to evangelicals, Romney praised his rival as a "good man trying to do the best he can," but he added, "I don't believe that the people of this country are going to choose a person based on their faith and what church they go to."

God-o-Meter knows that Romney knows that he's in an exceedingly delicate position in responding to Huckabee's remarks. A senior Romney advisor told God-o-Meter yesterday that the campaign "can't out-Christian Huckabee" and can't call Huckabee out on playing the Mormon card, lest it attract more attention to an issue that ain't exactly winning the campaign new voters. So Romney has begun arguing that voters won't support a candidate based on their faith. And GOM has begun lowering Romney's rating.