GOP debate tackles flip-flopping, torture but not Romney's faith

Mitt Romney's LDS faith wasn't an issue during the second debate among GOP presidential candidates, held Tuesday night in South Carolina, but that gave them more time to tackle everything from flip-flopping to torture.

"They focused on major issues," said Kelly Patterson, director of Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. "Religion is seen by some as tangential. So obviously it wasn't salient enough to rise to the top of the list."

Patterson and others had said religion would be raised during the 1 1/2-hour debate among the 10 GOP contenders at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, sponsored by Fox News cable network and the South Carolina Republican Party.

But even though both Time magazine and "60 Minutes" devoted extensive coverage to Romney's membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in recent days, the only mention of his religion was as part of a chart of biographical information.

Romney's son, Josh, who hosted a party to recruit new supporters at his Sugar House home, said he wasn't surprised. It's the media, not the public, that focuses on his father's faith, Josh Romney said.

"As they see our family, they see we're as American as can be," he said. "That's more important to them than what brand of faith each candidate has. ... It's always nice when he can talk about issues that are important to this country."

Romney, known to Utahns as the former leader of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as well as a member of the state's dominant faith, told Fox News after the debate he wanted to emphasize how he would clean up what he described as the mess in Washington.

But Romney, who served a term as governor of Massachusetts, also had to answer questions about changing his position on a number of issues — including abortion, gun control and gay marriage — from support to opposition.

Romney said he advocated some unpopular causes as a Republican governor in a very Democratic state.

"In the toughest of states, I made the toughest decisions and did what was right for America. I have conservative values," he said.

One of the other two top-tier candidates for the Republican nomination, Arizona Sen. John McCain, brought up Romney's so-called flip-flopping between his 1994 campaign against Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and his presidential bid.

"I have taken and kept a consistent position," McCain said, in response to criticism from Romney about the Arizona senator's efforts on immigration. McCain went on to say that he has not changed his mind depending on the "different offices I may be running for."