With 'God on their side,' Romney and Republicans may very well prevail

Mitt Romney's Texas primary win secured him the Republican nomination. Now the GOP wants the support of every major US religion. Mormons, Jews, and Catholics identify with the party in increasing numbers. That helps Republicans erode the Democratic base.

By Kyle Scott / May 30, 2012

Mitt Romney prays before his commencement address May 12 at Liberty University, an evangelical Christian college in Lynchburg, Va. Romney clinched the Republican nomination for president Tuesday with a win in the Texas primary. Op-ed contributor Kyle Scott says 'the Republican Party may be able to successfully add to its base by taking from the traditional religious bases of Democrats.'

Jae C. Hong/AP

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Now that Mitt Romney has officially secured enough delegates with his Texas primary victory to clinch the Republican nomination, Mormons seem like a block of voters the Republicans can count on come November. This isn?t just because Mr. Romney is Mormon.

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It?s because the Republican Party is now securing support from voters of every major religion in the United States, with the exception of Islam.

For nearly three decades Christian Evangelicals have tended to be reliably Republican. (Today, 70 percent of white evangelical Protestants support the GOP.) But now Mormons, Jews, and Catholics are getting on board with the party in increasing numbers. If the GOP is able to consolidate the support of the major religions in the US, Romney and other Republican candidates stand to win big at the polling booth in 2012 and well beyond.

Certainly, voters of a certain religion don?t always vote as a bloc, and recent trends indicate that some young Evangelicals are rejecting the ?partisan pulpit? and embracing traditionally liberal or Democratic values. But these religious groupings have had historic party allegiances that played out on election day as confirmed by the Pew Research Center Survey in 2009 following the 2008 presidential election.

Seeing a Mormon frontrunner in Romney may have helped earn Mormon support for the GOP, but the social conservative dimensions of the Republican platform also fit nicely within the Mormon faith. A strong commitment to traditional family values is the bedrock of both Mormonism and Republicanism.

At the graduation ceremony at Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell, Romney spoke of a worldview shared by his religion and Evangelicals; one committed to traditional family values ? a direct refutation of President Obama?s stance on same-sex marriage. A recent Pew survey found that Mormon support for the Republican party has grown from 68 percent in 2008 to 80 percent in early 2012.

Traditionally Democrats have been able to count on the support of Jewish voters. But when Barack Obama came out in support of a proposal that would return Israel to its 1967 borders, there was clear backlash among the Jewish and pro-Israeli communities. Republicans were able to align themselves with Jews and Israeli leaders in denouncing the proposal as a threat to Israel?s security.

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