NYT: In Iowa, Mormon Issue Is Benefiting Huckabee
By MICHAEL LUO
Published: November 28, 2007
The religious divide over Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith that his supporters had long feared would occur is emerging in Iowa as he is being challenged in state polls by Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor who has played up his faith in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Mr. Huckabee’s rise in Iowa — some recent polls now put him in a dead heat with Mr. Romney, who had led surveys for months — has been fueled by evangelical Christians, who believe Mormonism runs counter to Christian orthodoxy.
Although Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has been able to make inroads among the evangelicals, an influential voting bloc in the state, interviews with Mr. Huckabee’s supporters make clear that a sizable number are distinctly uncomfortable with Mr. Romney’s religion and cite it as a major reason they would not vote for him in the state’s Jan. 3 caucuses.
On Monday, Mr. Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, raised the stakes when he began broadcasting an advertisement in Iowa that emphasizes his faith and declares him to be a “Christian leader” — all in capital letters — which some might view as a shot at Mr. Romney....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/us/politics/28repubs.html