Sen. Joe Lieberman believes that Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith will be accepted by the American public just as Lieberman's Jewish faith was in 2000 when he ran for vice president.
Calling the United States a “faith-based initiative,” Lieberman wrote in an Op-Ed in
The Washington Post that “while America was predicated on the religious values of our Christian Founders, our founding documents remarkably guarantee the right of every American to hold elective office regardless of religion.
 |
| Joe Lieberman |
“In 2000, when Al Gore gave me the privilege of being the first Jewish American to be nominated for national office, I personally experienced the American people’s generosity of spirit, fairness and acceptance of religious diversity,” he wrote.
Lieberman said that the “unambiguous proof” that the Gore-Lieberman ticket was judged on the merits and not religion was the fact that it “received over a half-million more votes than the Bush-Cheney ticket.”
Noting that two Mormon candidates are now seeking the White House, Lieberman said the promise of religious freedom will again be tested and a barrier may again be broken. “Just as Americans rose above differences when John F. Kennedy’s Roman Catholic faith was ‘different’ in 1960, and 16 years later when Jimmy Carter’s Christian evangelical faith was ‘different,’ and again in 2000 when my Jewish faith was ‘different,’ Romney must be judged on his personal qualities, experience and ideas for America’s future.”
The independent senator from Connecticut concluded that his experience in 2000 give him “great confidence that the American people will again reject any sectarian religious tests for office and show their strong character, instinctive fairness and steadfast belief in our Constitution. That truly is the American way.”
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.