Today, Governor Romney has earned the endorsement of National Review, one of the most respected conservative publications in the nation.
 
Here is their endorsement:
 

 
 
Romney for President
 
NATIONAL REVIEW
By the Editors
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmMxYTUyYzA1YTk2YzE5NGVmNjc0OGFjYWJmNzMzNjI=&p=1
 
Many conservatives are finding it difficult to pick a presidential candidate. Each of the men running for the Republican nomination has strengths, and none has everything — all the traits, all the positions — we are looking for. Equally conservative analysts can reach, and have reached, different judgments in this matter. There are fine conservatives supporting each of these Republicans.
 
Our guiding principle has always been to select the most conservative viable candidate. In our judgment, that candidate is Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest. While he has not talked much about the importance of resisting ethnic balkanization — none of the major candidates has — he supports enforcing the immigration laws and opposes amnesty. Those are important steps in the right direction.
 
Uniting the conservative coalition is not enough to win a presidential election, but it is a prerequisite for building on that coalition. Rudolph Giuliani did extraordinary work as mayor of New York and was inspirational on 9/11. But he and Mike Huckabee would pull apart the coalition from opposite ends: Giuliani alienating the social conservatives, and Huckabee the economic (and foreign-policy) conservatives. A Republican party that abandoned either limited government or moral standards would be much diminished in the service it could give the country.
 
Two other major candidates would be able to keep the coalition together, but have drawbacks of their own. John McCain is not as conservative as Romney. He sponsored and still champions a campaign-finance law that impinged on fundamental rights of political speech; he voted against the Bush tax cuts; he supported this year's amnesty bill, although he now says he understands the need to control the border before doing anything else.
 
Despite all that and more, he is a hero with a record that is far more good than bad. He has been a strong and farsighted supporter of the Iraq War, and, in a trying political season for him, he has preserved and even enhanced his reputation for dignity and seriousness. There would be worse nominees for the GOP (see above). But McCain ran an ineffectual campaign for most of the year and is still paying for it.
 
Fred Thompson is as conservative as Romney, and has distinguished himself with serious proposals on Social Security, immigration, and defense. But Thompson has never run any large enterprise — and he has not run his campaign well, either. Conservatives were excited this spring to hear that he might enter the race, but have been disappointed by the reality. He has been fading in crucial early states. He has not yet passed the threshold test of establishing for voters that he truly wants to be president.
 
Romney is an intelligent, articulate, and accomplished former businessman and governor. At a time when voters yearn for competence and have soured on Washington because too often the Bush administration has not demonstrated it, Romney offers proven executive skill. He has demonstrated it in everything he has done in his professional life, and his tightly organized, disciplined campaign is no exception. He himself has shown impressive focus and energy.
 
It is true that he has less foreign-policy experience than Thompson and (especially) McCain, but he has more executive experience than both. Since almost all of the candidates have the same foreign-policy principles, what matters most is which candidate has the skills to execute that vision.
 
Like any Republican, he would have an uphill climb next fall. But he would be able to offer a persuasive outsider's critique of Washington. His conservative accomplishments as governor showed that he can work with, and resist, a Demo­crat­ic legislature. He knows that not every feature of the health-care plan he enacted in Massachusetts should be replicated nationally, but he can also speak with more authority than any of the other Republican candidates about this pressing issue. He would also have credibility on the economy, given his success as a businessman and a manager of the Olympics.
 
Some conservatives question his sincerity. It is true that he has reversed some of his positions. But we should be careful not to overstate how much he has changed. In 1994, when he tried to unseat Ted Kennedy, he ran against higher taxes and government-run health care, and for school choice, a balanced budget amendment, welfare reform, and "tougher measures to stop illegal immigration." He was no Rockefeller Republican even then.
 
We believe that Romney is a natural ally of social conservatives. He speaks often about the toll of fatherlessness in this country. He may not have thought deeply about the political dimensions of social issues until, as governor, he was confronted with the cutting edge of social liberalism. No other Republican governor had to deal with both human cloning and court-imposed same-sex marriage. He was on the right side of both issues, and those battles seem to have made him see the stakes of a broad range of public-policy issues more clearly. He will work to put abortion on a path to extinction. Whatever the process by which he got where he is on marriage, judges, and life, we're glad he is now on our side — and we trust him to stay there.
 
He still has some convincing to do with other conservatives. Romney has been plagued by the sense that his is a passionless, paint-by-the-numbers conservatism. If he is to win the nomination, he will have to show more of the kind of emotion and resolve he demonstrated in his College Station "Faith in America" speech.
 
For some people, Romney's Mormonism is still a barrier. But we are not electing a pastor. The notion that he will somehow be controlled by Salt Lake City or engaged in evangelism for his church is outlandish. He deserves to be judged on his considerable merits as a potential president. As he argued in his College Station speech, his faith informs his values, which he has demonstrated in both the private and public sectors. In none of these cases have any specific doctrines of his church affected the quality of his leadership. Romney is an exemplary family man and a patriot whose character matches the high office to which he aspires.
 
More than the other primary candidates, Romney has President Bush's virtues and avoids his flaws. His moral positions, and his instincts on taxes and foreign policy, are the same. But he is less inclined to federal activism, less tolerant of overspending, better able to defend conservative positions in debate, and more likely to demand performance from his subordinates. A winning combination, by our lights. In this most fluid and unpredictable Republican field, we vote for Mitt Romney.

9th Republican Debate

MODERATOR: The next question is for Governor Romney. The same thing: Why has the Hispanic support for Republicans declined?

ROMNEY: You know, I think Republicans went to Washington with the expectations of the whole world that we would change Washington.

And in many respects, as has been said by many people, Washington changed Republicans. And when Republicans act like Democrats, America

loses.

Republicans spent too much money, and we let down our ethical standards. And so, Hispanics, along with other people in this

country, want to see change. I (inaudible) the Republican Party can connect with Hispanic

voters, like other Americans, because there are some peculiar connections between our party and the Hispanic people.

One, Hispanic Americans serve in the military and care about our military. We salute them for their service right now. And we'll

strengthen the military. If I'm president, I'm going to add at least 100,000 troops to our military.

Secondly, Hispanic Americans are entrepreneurs and business people. And I know how to build our economy. I'm going to keep our

taxes down and make sure that our economy grows and thrives.

ROMNEY: And, third, Hispanic Americans are family-oriented and people of faith. I'm going to strengthen America's families. And so

my platform, this Republican platform, connects with Spanish -- Hispanic Americans from across the country.

(APPLAUSE)

MODERATOR: Governor Romney, (inaudible) to be here and (inaudible). Do you think that you're taking a risk to come here to

lose support from the more conservative base in your party?

ROMNEY: I don't think so at all. I think Americans across the country of all ethnicities recognize that we are a great, pluralistic society. That statue you have on the screen behind us, that light that shine out for the entire world said, "This is an unusual land. This is a land that welcomes people of all backgrounds, of all ethnicities, of all nations; welcomes them here to this great land."

(APPLAUSE)

And she said that God gave to the individual certain inalienable rights. And that changed the relationship between the state and the citizen.

It said that the citizen was the sovereign and the state was not. And that changed the entire world. People came here for opportunity.

And our party is a party of opportunity. We stand for strength in our home. We stand for strength in our economy. We stand for strength in our military, so we defend our values, and so of course Republicans are going to come and speak to Hispanic Americans in the language they understand best, so we can get their votes and they can understand that we are the party of strength and the party of freedom.

ROMNEY: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Governor Romney, the question is: Why not legalize some undocumented aliens if they comply with the requirements, if they meet certain requirements?

ROMNEY: You know, I have the occasion to talk to people who have loved ones that are hoping to come to this country, to be reunited with family members. And they're staying in their home countries applying legally. I believe that those people ought to be the first

ones to get to come to this country. Those who have come illegally,

in my view, should be given the opportunity to get in line with

everybody else, but there should be no special pathway for those that

have come here illegally to jump ahead of the line or to be come

permanent residents or citizens. They should be treated like

everybody else who wants to come to this country.

ROMNEY: I think we ought to secure our border, we ought to have

an employment verification system to know who's here legally and

illegally, and recognize that legal immigration is an extraordinary

source of great capability and vitality for our country. We welcome

the cultures that come here, the education, the work ethic, the family

values. We're going to protect legal immigration. At the same time,

we're going to enforce the law, show that we're a nation of laws, and

welcome the people who have been standing in line first.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Governor Romney, some days ago you fired a company that used to

take care of your landscaping because supposedly they were hiring

undocumented workers.

The question is this, did you report, officially, that the people

or the company to immigration authorities? And do you think that

should others report undocumented aliens, the people that you suspect

are undocumented?

ROMNEY: You know, we're a very compassionate people. We're also

a people who follow the law. And the landscaper at my home is an old

friend, and when he made a mistake the first time, I told him in no

uncertain terms, you have to make sure that anybody that works on my

property and walks on my property is a legal individual.

And he did his best, but he made a mistake. And apparently, two

people he had there were not legal. And I told him that's it, and we

terminated that relationship. And I think everybody in the country

understands who those folks are. It became a big news story.

But let's underscore something here, which is that employers like

this landscape company, and he's Hispanic American, he doesn't have a

way to determine whether the people he's hiring are legal or illegal.

Isn't it amazing in this country, with the fact that American Express

or Visa or Mastercard can tell you that fast whether the card is

authorized or not.

We don't know who's here legally or not. That's why we need an

employment verification system to identify the fact that legal aliens

that come here are legal, are entitled to work. And that's something

I'm going to get done so our employers know who's here legally and we

welcome people who want to come work in this country.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

MODERATOR: Governor Romney, we would like to know -- see what

your opinion -- what's going to happen to the children who are being

separated from their families?

ROMNEY: We're going to finally have a system that welcomes

people here legally, and that says that those that have come here

illegally are invited to get in line with everybody else.

And the Constitution, as Senator Thompson has indicated,

indicates that those that are born here do become United States

citizens by virtue of being born here.

But if they're born here from parents who come across the border

illegally and bring them here illegally, in my view, we should not

adopt, then, these chain migration policies that say, you've got a

child here that's a U.S. citizen, and the whole family can come in.

ROMNEY: That, in my opinion, is a mistake.

We are a nation of laws. And you're correctly going through each

part of immigration policy here. But let's underscore this one more

time: We are, in this audience, almost every person here, an

individual who came to this country because it's a land of opportunity

and liberty.

We also, because we have laws, can have opportunity and liberty.

We're going to enforce the laws. Welcoming people here -- we're not

going to cut off immigration; we're going to keep immigration alive

and thriving.

But we're going to end the practice of illegal immigration. It's

not inhumane. It's humanitarian. It's compassionate. We're going to

end illegal immigration to protect legal immigration.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

ROMNEY: Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

MODERATOR: Governor Romney, what would you do differently that

has not been done so far?

ROMNEY: Well, first of all, you've got to think about who Castro

is, and who Raul Castro is as well.

ROMNEY: We call them strongmen -- dictators, authorative

totalitarian leaders. And yet these are individuals who are not

strong. Look at what they have done? Brothers to the rescue. They

shoot a small aircraft out of the sky. People wearing a wristband

that says "change," are arrested -- 25 of them just for wearing a

wristband; a Catholic church is edited and people are terrified

because a priest is just speaking his sermon.

These people, these Castro brothers are cowards, and we have to

recognize they are cowards.

(APPLAUSE)

And for that reason, the course for America is to continue our

isolation of Cuba. It is not to say, as Barack Obama on the

Democratic side said, that he would dignify the Castros with a

personal visit to Cuba. That's not the way to go. Instead, it's to

bring our friends together to isolate Cuba, to put together a strategy

that helps all of Latin America, weakens Hugo Chavez who is propping

up Castro.

ROMNEY: We need a Latin American policy that frees Cuba and that

eliminates a threat of people like Hugo Chavez.

(APPLAUSE)

MODERATOR: Governor Romney, for how long would we need to leave

our troops in Iraq?

ROMNEY: Let's talk about our mission there. This is not just

about strategy and allies. It's not about oil. It's not about just

the economy. It's not just about standing up for the fact that we've

been there for a long time.

It's about human lives.

ROMNEY: What we're doing in Iraq relates to protecting the lives

of American citizens, here, around the world. It relates to lives

throughout the world. It relates to dignity and freedom.

We're in Iraq because we want to make sure that Iraq does not

become what Afghanistan was. What Afghanistan was under the Taliban

was a place that they could recruit and train and launch attacks

against us on 9/11, and other attacks throughout the world.

The Khobar Towers, our embassies in Africa, the USS Cole -- they

were launching attacks. The last thing America could stand for, the

last thing we could do with the human lives that are so precious,

would be to have Iraq become an Afghanistan. Fortunately, the surge

is working. It's going to keep that from happening. We're going to

have stability and security there and American lives will be saved by

virtue of the extraordinary sacrifice of American servicemen.

(APPLAUSE)

MODERATOR: Governor Romney, what should we do with all the

millions of people who are not insured?

ROMNEY: Well, I think I'm probably the only person on the stage

and the only governor that actually stopped talking about getting

health care for everybody and actually got the job done.

Working with people across the aisle, we said: Enough is enough.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, we're up here talking about all sort of ideas about tax

credits and deductions, and my program has a deduction as well. We

talk about prevention and people being health.

But, look, the best kind of prevention you can have in health

care is to have a doctor. And if someone doesn't have a doctor,

doesn't have a clinic they can go to, doesn't have health insurance to

be able to provide the prescription drugs they need, you can't be

healthy. And you need to have health insurance for all of our

citizens.

And I found a way to do that without requiring raising taxes,

without a government mandate, without a government takeover. Instead,

I didn't want to have a -- when I said government mandate, I meant

employer mandate. Instead, we have personal responsibility. We

allowed individuals to buy their own policies.

ROMNEY: Those that couldn't afford them, we helped them buy

their policies. And you know what? It cost us no more money to help

people buy insurance policies that they could afford than it was

costing us before, handing out free care.

We Republicans can get everybody insured. Let's get it done.

(APPLAUSE)

Governor Romney, how can we improve education -- public education

in this country?

ROMNEY: Well, we've got a pretty good model. If you look at my

state, even before I got there, other governors and legislatures

worked real hard to improve education. And they did a number of

things that made a big difference.

One is, they started testing our kids to see who was succeeding,

making sure that failing schools were identified and then turning them

around. They fought for school choice. When I became governor, I had

to protect school choice because the legislature tried to stop it.

And then we also fought for English immersion. We wanted our

kids coming to school to learn English from the very beginning. And

then we did something that was really extraordinary. We said to every

kid that does well on these exams that we put in place before you can

graduate from high school, we're going to give you a John and Abigail

Adams scholarship, four years tuition-free to our state university or

state colleges for all the kids that graduate in the top quarter of

their class.

We care about the quality of education. I want to pay better

teachers more money. Teachers are underpaid, but I want to evaluate

our teachers and see which ones are the best and which ones are not.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: And let me tell how our kids are doing. Every two

years, we test the kids across the country, the NAPE exam. Our kids

-- my kids came out number one in English in fourth and eighth grade,

number one in math. In all four tests, our kids came out number one

in the nation.

These principles of choice, parental involvement, encouraging

high standards, scholarships for our best kids -- these turn our

schools into the kind of magnets that they can be for the entire

nation.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Governor.

(APPLAUSE)

We're going to continue talking about education. One our of

three Hispanic students don't finish high school.

Senator McCain, your vision of Hispanics in the future.

ROMNEY: America needs all Americans. We're in a time of real

need. We're the strongest nation on Earth; we're the hope of the

Earth. But we face some extraordinary challenges -- global jihadists,

violent jihadists, who want to bring down our nations and other

nations.

We face, as well, tough new competition coming from places like

China and India, unlike anything we've known before.

We spend way too much money in Washington, particularly on

entitlements that are growing more and more weighty on us.

ROMNEY: We have extraordinary challenges culturally as people

are deciding to have kids without being married. There are all sorts

of challenges in our country. And right now, we need to do what

Ronald Reagan did, which is call on America's strength.

As he faced the difficulties of the last century, he said, let's

have a strong military and a strong economy that can outcompete the

Russians. And let's make sure we have strong values and confidence in

ourselves.

The Hispanic community, like all other communities in this great

nation, need to come together and strengthen America. Because this is

the land of the brave and the home of the free. And Hispanics are

brave and they are free, as are all of the people of this great

nation.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Hotair

I leave you with this, from the LA Times's report on the Dumond case. The left wants to believe Huck went to bat for Dumond because one of his victims was related to Bill Clinton. The truth seems to be something different:

[Pastor Jay] Cole, meanwhile, was working to help DuMond. Cole said he talked to "probably a hundred people" about his hope of winning DuMond's release, turning foremost to the evangelical community. He said many evangelicals were encouraged that DuMond had claimed a religious conversion, and that many joined Cole in writing to Huckabee about DuMond's situation.

The clincher, he said, was their belief that DuMond had been "saved."

disturbing evidence

The evidence is mounting and it's becoming clearer and clearer that Huckabee is guilty of religious nepotism to the exclusion of a safe society. You probably saw my post about the fact that rapist turned murderer Wayne Dumond was paroled largely because Huckabee and Dumond's pastor believed that he had been "Born Again"

But now there's more disturbing evidence:

Gov. Huckabee probably never read the confession of a demented killer named Glen Green before he made the monster eligible for parole.

Green's confession is so depraved, its sadistic details so scary that no sane, responsible adult would consider him for parole.

If the governor didn't read the confession, he is guilty of dereliction of duty.

But if he read the confession and still considers Green deserving of parole, he's certainly unfit to hold office. Who would free a madman who beat an 18-year-old woman with Chinese martial-arts sticks, raped her as she barely clung to life, ran over her with his car, then dumped her in the bayou . . .

In usual fashion, Huckabee's office didn't even contact the victim's family about the clemency.

Although he's required to by the Constitution, the governor, as is his custom, won't say why he granted clemency to this crazed killer (over the unanimous objections of the Post-Prison Transfer Board).

Huckabee apparently listened to Green's minister (and a friend of the governor), who thinks the murder was an accident and Green was forced to confess.

The Jacksonville police, who arrested Green in 1974 after a witness linked him to the crime, think the minister and Huckabee are both delusional, which is the mildest epitaph we can print.

This old police reporter knows a genuine confession when he sees one, and Green's depravity has the ring of truth.

The full story has more disturbing details. Another report confirms the veracity of these claims. And the Parole Board's recommendation that this request for Clemency was "Without Merit" . . . but that didn't stop Huckabee from taking the word of this killers Minister over the professionals.

P.S. I'm getting this stuff from a thread at Race 4 2008 where a well-known Fred Thompson Supporter (Tommy Oliver) is posting the links in the following comment thread (Look's like Fred's Opposition Research Team as been working overtime, eh?)

Update: HUCKABEE EVEN ADMITS TO FACTORING IN RELIGIOUS "REDEMPTION" INTO HIS CLEMENCY/PARDON DECISIONS.

Huckabee says redemption a factor in clemency decisions
Thursday, Jul 22, 2004

By David Robinson
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK - Gov. Mike Huckabee said Wednesday that his religious background and belief in redemption played a key role in the high number of state prisoners he has pardoned or turned loose early.

"I would not deny that my sense of the reality of redemption is a factor," the former Baptist pastor said in a radio interview with KUAR in Little Rock. "And I don't know that I can apologize for that because I would hate to think of the kind of human I would be if I thought people were beyond forgiveness and beyond reformation and beyond some sense of improvement."

. . .

Huckabee two weeks ago issued proclamations granting clemency for Denver Witham, who is serving life in prison for a 1974 murder in Saline County, and for John H. Claiborne, who is serving 375 years in prison for a 1994 kidnapping and armed robbery conviction in Pulaski County. Both men are still in state custody and are waiting parole hearings before the state Post Prison Transfer Board. A board spokeswoman said those hearings probably would be in August.

Jegley said last week that he decided to write Huckabee after talking to the son of the victims who were kidnapped and robbed by Claiborne.

The son said his mother is still alive and is "scared to death" that Claiborne may be released soon, Jegley said.

Based on information from the secretary of state's office, Jegley said Huckabee has granted 669 clemencies since he became governor in 1996. The previous three governors, Bill Clinton, Frank White and Jim Guy Tucker, granted a total of 507 clemencies during their 18 years in office, he said.
I wonder how many of Huck's Clemency's were based on the word of Muslim Clerics that the violent criminals had "found religion" in Islam . . . or did non-Christian or even non-Born Again Evangelical converts face a "need not apply" policy for clemency? Would be interesting to know, eh?

Mike Huckabee: "take this nation back for Christ"

http://www.newsweek.com/id/74472/output/print

The man he is now trailing in Iowa is smooth on the campaign circuit, appealing to conservative Christians without alienating other kinds of voters. How long this will last is an open question. Huckabee the front runner is only now beginning to face new scrutiny. A speech he gave in 1998 is likely to come up again. Addressing Southern Baptist pastors gathered at the Salt Palace Convention Center, Huckabee, then governor of Arkansas, said that he "got into politics because I knew government didn't have the real answers, that real answers lie in accepting Jesus Christ into our lives … I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ."

More detailed coverage at the time it happened is here:

http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/jonesboro/afhuckabee08.asp

Side note:  Many will remember that this 1998 meeting of Baptists in Salt Lake City where Huckabee spoke had the intent of proselytizing Mormons to become "Born Again"

That Huckabee, as a Political figure (governor at the time) would participate in a convention in Utah with such anti-Mormon messaging may tell us where he really stands on Mormonism.

More coverage of the convention here.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/1998/06/06/MN78538.DTL

http://www.baptiststandard.com/1998/5_6/pages/sbc_groups.html

http://cnview.com/news_service/cnv_may_1998.htm
Two religions are colliding in Salt Lake City. More than 10,000 Southern Baptists are invading the Mormon stronghold during their annual convention June 9-11. The meeting takes place in the Salt Palace Convention Center, across the street from the Mormon Temple.

...The convention is almost secondary to what is going on around it. Baptists are evangelizing the city with an extensive campaign before and after the meeting. Some 3,000 Baptists are canvassing 140,000 homes door-to-door in 18 neighborhoods. (Excerpts from Religion News Today)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E3D7163DF937A25755C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

http://www.shields-research.org/Critics/SBC.html

http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/csrpl/RIN%20Vol.1No.2/salt_lake.htm

Mitt Romney's Faith in America

Faith in America

by Mitt Romney

"Thank you, Mr. President, for your kind introduction.

"It is an honor to be here today. This is an inspiring place because of you and the First Lady and because of the film exhibited across the way in the Presidential library. For those who have not seen it, it shows the President as a young pilot, shot down during the Second World War, being rescued from his life-raft by the crew of an American submarine. It is a moving reminder that when America has faced challenge and peril, Americans rise to the occasion, willing to risk their very lives to defend freedom and preserve our nation. We are in your debt. Thank you, Mr. President.

"Mr. President, your generation rose to the occasion, first to defeat Fascism and then to vanquish the Soviet Union. You left us, your children, a free and strong America. It is why we call yours the greatest generation. It is now my generation's turn. How we respond to today's challenges will define our generation. And it will determine what kind of America we will leave our children, and theirs.

"America faces a new generation of challenges. Radical violent Islam seeks to destroy us. An emerging China endeavors to surpass our economic leadership. And we are troubled at home by government overspending, overuse of foreign oil, and the breakdown of the family.

"Over the last year, we have embarked on a national debate on how best to preserve American leadership. Today, I wish to address a topic which I believe is fundamental to America's greatness: our religious liberty. I will also offer perspectives on how my own faith would inform my Presidency, if I were elected.

"There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with the nation's founders, for they, when our nation faced its greatest peril, sought the blessings of the Creator. And further, they discovered the essential connection between the survival of a free land and the protection of religious freedom. In John Adams' words: 'We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion... Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people.'

"Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.

"Given our grand tradition of religious tolerance and liberty, some wonder whether there are any questions regarding an aspiring candidate's religion that are appropriate. I believe there are. And I will answer them today.

"Almost 50 years ago another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for President, not a Catholic running for President. Like him, I am an American running for President. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith.

"Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.

"As Governor, I tried to do the right as best I knew it, serving the law and answering to the Constitution. I did not confuse the particular teachings of my church with the obligations of the office and of the Constitution – and of course, I would not do so as President. I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law.

"As a young man, Lincoln described what he called America's 'political religion' – the commitment to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I am fortunate to become your President, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A President must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.

"There are some for whom these commitments are not enough. They would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my religion, say that it is more a tradition than my personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts. That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers – I will be true to them and to my beliefs.

"Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.

"There is one fundamental question about which I often am asked. What do I believe about Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind. My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.

"There are some who would have a presidential candidate describe and explain his church's distinctive doctrines. To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution. No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes President he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.

"I believe that every faith I have encountered draws its adherents closer to God. And in every faith I have come to know, there are features I wish were in my own: I love the profound ceremony of the Catholic Mass, the approachability of God in the prayers of the Evangelicals, the tenderness of spirit among the Pentecostals, the confident independence of the Lutherans, the ancient traditions of the Jews, unchanged through the ages, and the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims. As I travel across the country and see our towns and cities, I am always moved by the many houses of worship with their steeples, all pointing to heaven, reminding us of the source of life's blessings.

"It is important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions. And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it's usually a sound rule to focus on the latter – on the great moral principles that urge us all on a common course. Whether it was the cause of abolition, or civil rights, or the right to life itself, no movement of conscience can succeed in America that cannot speak to the convictions of religious people.

"We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion. But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They are wrong.

"The founders proscribed the establishment of a state religion, but they did not countenance the elimination of religion from the public square. We are a nation 'Under God' and in God, we do indeed trust.

"We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders – in ceremony and word. He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places. Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty.'

"Nor would I separate us from our religious heritage. Perhaps the most important question to ask a person of faith who seeks a political office, is this: does he share these American values: the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another, and a steadfast commitment to liberty?

"They are not unique to any one denomination. They belong to the great moral inheritance we hold in common. They are the firm ground on which Americans of different faiths meet and stand as a nation, united.

"We believe that every single human being is a child of God – we are all part of the human family. The conviction of the inherent and inalienable worth of every life is still the most revolutionary political proposition ever advanced. John Adams put it that we are 'thrown into the world all equal and alike.'

"The consequence of our common humanity is our responsibility to one another, to our fellow Americans foremost, but also to every child of God. It is an obligation which is fulfilled by Americans every day, here and across the globe, without regard to creed or race or nationality.

"Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government. No people in the history of the world have sacrificed as much for liberty. The lives of hundreds of thousands of America's sons and daughters were laid down during the last century to preserve freedom, for us and for freedom loving people throughout the world. America took nothing from that Century's terrible wars – no land from Germany or Japan or Korea; no treasure; no oath of fealty. America's resolve in the defense of liberty has been tested time and again. It has not been found wanting, nor must it ever be. America must never falter in holding high the banner of freedom.

"These American values, this great moral heritage, is shared and lived in my religion as it is in yours. I was taught in my home to honor God and love my neighbor. I saw my father march with Martin Luther King. I saw my parents provide compassionate care to others, in personal ways to people nearby, and in just as consequential ways in leading national volunteer movements. I am moved by the Lord's words: 'For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me...'

"My faith is grounded on these truths. You can witness them in Ann and my marriage and in our family. We are a long way from perfect and we have surely stumbled along the way, but our aspirations, our values, are the self-same as those from the other faiths that stand upon this common foundation. And these convictions will indeed inform my presidency.

"Today's generations of Americans have always known religious liberty. Perhaps we forget the long and arduous path our nation's forbearers took to achieve it. They came here from England to seek freedom of religion. But upon finding it for themselves, they at first denied it to others. Because of their diverse beliefs, Ann Hutchinson was exiled from Massachusetts Bay, a banished Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, and two centuries later, Brigham Young set out for the West. Americans were unable to accommodate their commitment to their own faith with an appreciation for the convictions of others to different faiths. In this, they were very much like those of the European nations they had left.

"It was in Philadelphia that our founding fathers defined a revolutionary vision of liberty, grounded on self evident truths about the equality of all, and the inalienable rights with which each is endowed by his Creator.

"We cherish these sacred rights, and secure them in our Constitutional order. Foremost do we protect religious liberty, not as a matter of policy but as a matter of right. There will be no established church, and we are guaranteed the free exercise of our religion.

"I'm not sure that we fully appreciate the profound implications of our tradition of religious liberty. I have visited many of the magnificent cathedrals in Europe. They are so inspired ... so grand ... so empty. Raised up over generations, long ago, so many of the cathedrals now stand as the postcard backdrop to societies just too busy or too 'enlightened' to venture inside and kneel in prayer. The establishment of state religions in Europe did no favor to Europe's churches. And though you will find many people of strong faith there, the churches themselves seem to be withering away.

"Infinitely worse is the other extreme, the creed of conversion by conquest: violent Jihad, murder as martyrdom... killing Christians, Jews, and Muslims with equal indifference. These radical Islamists do their preaching not by reason or example, but in the coercion of minds and the shedding of blood. We face no greater danger today than theocratic tyranny, and the boundless suffering these states and groups could inflict if given the chance.

"The diversity of our cultural expression, and the vibrancy of our religious dialogue, has kept America in the forefront of civilized nations even as others regard religious freedom as something to be destroyed.

"In such a world, we can be deeply thankful that we live in a land where reason and religion are friends and allies in the cause of liberty, joined against the evils and dangers of the day. And you can be certain of this: Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me. And so it is for hundreds of millions of our countrymen: we do not insist on a single strain of religion – rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith.

"Recall the early days of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, during the fall of 1774. With Boston occupied by British troops, there were rumors of imminent hostilities and fears of an impending war. In this time of peril, someone suggested that they pray. But there were objections. 'They were too divided in religious sentiments', what with Episcopalians and Quakers, Anabaptists and Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Catholics.

"Then Sam Adams rose, and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot.

"And so together they prayed, and together they fought, and together, by the grace of God ... they founded this great nation.

"In that spirit, let us give thanks to the divine 'author of liberty.' And together, let us pray that this land may always be blessed, 'with freedom's holy light.'

"God bless the United States of America."

Chris Wallace is wrong.

McCain has voted to give social security benefits to immigrants who were here illegally - even if they are now in Mexico. This was a big deal and I thought FReepers would have a long enough memory not to forget.

Sen. McCain voted in favor of a motion to table the Ensign amendment (SA 3985) to S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 . The Ensign amendment (submitted for himself, Sen. Santorum, and Sen. Inhofe), would have prohibited the payment of Social Security benefits based on quarters of coverage earned by an individual who has not at some point had a valid Social Security number. This would have addressed part of the problem of aliens getting Social Security credit for work performed while they were illegally present in the United States (aliens who came in on temporary work visas, but overstayed their visas, would continue to get credit for all work performed, including after they became illegal). The motion to table the Ensign amendment passed by a vote of 50 to 49, effectively killing the amendment. http://profiles.numbersusa.com/improfile.php3?DistSend=AZ&VIPID=33