Romney vows Mormon church would not run White House

By Steve Holland

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney vowed on Thursday the Mormon church would not run the White House if he is elected, as he sought to reassure Americans wary of his religion.

Attempting to halt a slide in the polls in Iowa, where former Arkansas Gov. and Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee has surged into the lead in many polls, Romney made an impassioned appeal to Americans to look beyond his religion and honor the U.S. tradition of religious tolerance.

"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," Romney said.

He spoke at the presidential library of former President George H.W. Bush in College Station, a setting chosen in part because it is not far from Houston, where Democratic candidate John Kennedy addressed Americans about his Catholic religion in 1960 and went on to win the presidency that year.

Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts who would be the first Mormon president of the United States as Kennedy was the first Catholic president, cast himself in Kennedy's mold.

"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," Romney said.

Some Americans view Mormons with skepticism and the church has spent decades trying to counter criticism that it is a cult and a threat to Christianity.

The church issued a statement after the speech saying it has a long-standing tradition of political neutrality.

Romney, who had been pressed by Southern Baptist leaders to make the speech, sought to reassure Christian evangelicals, saying he believes Jesus Christ is the son of God and savior of mankind.

He acknowledged that some differences exist.

"My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths," Romney said. "Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history."

Some evangelical leaders were impressed.

The Rev. Rob Schenk, president of the National Ministry Center in Washington D.C., who is neutral in the presidential race, called it "one of the best political speeches on this subject that will likely ever be made."

"As an evangelical, I think he went a long way toward relieving some of the anxieties that evangelicals have," said Schenk, who attended the speech.

"I certainly didn't hear anything that he said that should disturb evangelicals," added Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith.

But Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said he was "disappointed."

"The founders of our Constitution meant for religion and government to be completely separate," said Lynn.

Romney avoided specifics about Mormonism, saying to do so would amount to a "religious test" not in keeping with the strictures of the U.S. Constitution.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an estimated 6 million members in the United States and is based on the belief that the religion's founder, Joseph Smith, found golden tablets in 1827 in upstate New York left behind by ancient Israelites.

Romney said he would not turn his back on his faith, as he said some would prefer.

"I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it," he said. "Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it."

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found a majority of Americans view the Mormon faith as a Christian religion, but one in four respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon president.

Romney's campaign is heavily dependent on a victory in Iowa, which on January 3 holds the first of the state-by-state contests to determine which Republican and Democrat will face off in the November 2008 election.

Romney spent millions to build a big lead in Iowa, but the advantage has evaporated in recent weeks, with Huckabee winning support from Christian evangelicals to catch him in the polls.

(Additional reporting by Ed Stoddard in Dallas; editing by David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)