Mitt Romney is a tad silly. I say this as a person who is not a member of a church and lacks the kind of faith that others proclaim. As do many of us who struggle with the notions of god, I often find myself envying those who are unfalteringly certain about the things they cannot see. I also know that it is nonsense to think religion doesn't matter in politics, and especially in presidential campaigns.
When Romney made his speech about religion in College Station, Texas, he wasn't that far upwind from Mt. Carmel, where the government ran into a false prophet and they both made mistakes that incinerated children and their parents. Faith was at the heart of that tragedy. David Koresh was scrutinized and criticized for what he believed and, ultimately, was judged by our culture to be a whack job. The same process needs to be applied to politics.
Romney's assertion that faith is deeply personal and ought not to be a significant part of the discussion is nonsensical. We would certainly not elect a man or a woman who believed that all of creation was a product of the internet's now famous "flying spaghetti monster." This would be a person of unsound judgment, eh? And whether the former governor of Massachusetts is willing to believe it or not, this is a standard that is being applied to his religion of Mormonism and what he holds to be true about its tenets and its founder, Joseph Smith.
Christians, whether they are evangelical or not, have a difficult time processing the idea that Smith was a prophet and many of them are convinced he was a charlatan. Indeed, in private some will even call him a cultist, which is the title Koresh carried with him into the flames. Even in the 1800s when mythology and folklore were more substantive parts of all cultures, Smith's story of golden tablets and the angel Moroni was incredible to people, including, often, his wife.
more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/religion-matters-why-mik_b_77728.html