Romney's Mormonism and Alabama

     Catholic Rick Santorum won the Alabama GOP Primary on Tuesday, although this was once fertile anti-Catholic territory. After blacks, the Klan's big target was catholics. Non-Klan bias diminished considerably from the 1970's on because of the prominent role Catholics played in the Civil Rights Movement.

     TIME magazine reports today that exit polling during Tuesday's voting showed front runner Mitt Romney was hurt by a similar bias against his religion...

While Santorum is a Catholic and most voters in Alabama and Mississippi are southern Baptists, they clearly identify themselves more closely with Santorum’s religion that Romney’s religion.  (It’s no secret that among some evangelical Christians, Mormonism is viewed very skeptically.)

     It's difficult for candidates, especially Republicans, to argue that Romney or Santorum's religions don't matter, since they all wear their particular beliefs on their shoulders so prominently. Besides, it's not a winning argument. You can lose as many voters as you win.

[PLUS: 9:51 AM... Read Howell Raines comments about Mormonism and Romney and The South.]