Bennett says Romney can win presidency

Mitt Romney has a real path to the presidency, Sen. Bob Bennett said.

But it will not be an easy path, and Romney could still be waylaid by several issues or personalities, Bennett, R-Utah, told the Deseret Morning News editorial board Tuesday.

"More and more of the thoughtful observers have come to the same conclusion that I have — (Romney) will likely be the Republican nominee," Bennett said.

Even though a quarter of Americans say they will not vote for a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be president, Bennett said he doesn't believe that ultimately "the Mormon question will be definitive" to what happens to Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts who ran Utah's 2002 Olympic Games.

On other issues, Bennett said he will support Utah getting a fourth U.S. House seat, but "I doubt it will pass" in the Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a close ally of Bennett, "just hates" the Washington, D.C., congressional voting rights bill. McConnell opposes giving D.C. a vote in the House "because Mitch believes it is clearly unconstitutional."

And, said Bennett, McConnell should be able to gather the 41 votes to block the D.C. voting rights bill from ever getting a vote in the Senate. The bill would give Utah an extra seat and give D.C. a voting seat.

On immigration reform, Bennett repeated that he has not fully made up his mind yet and wants to see all the amendments to a comprehensive bill put forward by a wide coalition of U.S. senators.

But Bennett said he believes the current bill is perhaps the last chance to get immigration reform for years to come. "If the core bill holds, without amendments that could kill (the compromise), it has a chance," he said.

Bennett voted to kill an amendment — which failed 48-49 — that would have removed the partial amnesty part of the bill. The amendment would have killed the compromise.

If the bill passes the Senate, Bennett said rumors from the House indicate Democrats there could call the bill up for a floor vote without committee hearings or much debate — and President Bush could find himself with a comprehensive immigration bill on his desk this year.

Bennett, who said he has advised on several U.S. presidential campaigns, said Romney, a faithful member of the LDS Church, has to stay away from discussing any theology or try to convince anyone that they should become Mormons.

"Evangelicals will endorse him because he's the only (GOP) candidate who shares their values and the only one they can depend upon to support their values from the presidency," Bennett said.