The Mormon Candidate This World

Meet Mitt Romney, he's the front runner for the Republican Party, in

the race for the White House. President, you were elected to lead,

you chose to follow, and now it's time for you to get out of the way.

But for some reason, the chap they call The Tin Man, can't connect

with the voters. Maybe it's because he has loads of money. $10,000 bet?

I'm not in the betting business. Perhaps it's because he's too

moderate. I'm running for office. Who is this guy, can you trust him.

Or is it his take on God? I can't, in good conscience, vote for him, I

can't do it. Mitt Romney is a Morman, and they believe that Jesus

came to America. Are the Morman- Barbers religious bigots? I go on

the road to find out. The Mormons don't talk about their polygamist

past. I meet a man with multiple wives, just like Mitt's great

grandfather. How does it work in the bedroom? I go to a different

bedroom every night. On a rotational basis? Yes. What happens

if you miss a night? It doesn't happen.

The man who might soon be the most powerful man on earth, some say

belongs to a cult, it includes Mitt's cousin. I don't think they

understand the degree to which they are engaging in brain washing.

Mitt's faith stop him becoming Romney looks a good Republican bet,

he's handsome, confident, rich, reelous, he's a Morman, and he has

served Michigan well. Meet Mitt's dad, back in 1968, millionaire,

George Romney, ran against Richard Nixon for the Republican place.

Vote for the right people, and stop people keeping you from doing what

you need to do, to see the little differences are on the right side.

Mitt idolised his father, and George's failure is a big reason

why his son is tilting at the White House. There is probably a little

part of him that does want to avenge his father's loss in 1968,

it was a bruising experience for him and the family.

Back then, George Romney's Mormanism wasn't a big issue, it

was his heresy on Vietnam, he was against the war, that cost him the

nomination. 44 years later, the God vote has

never had more clout. The Republican Party kneels before

Evangelical Christians. Never have we had this close organisational

embrace of organised religion of one political party. That race has

got tighter and tighter, two-thirds of the people voting in Republican

primaries across the United States now, are members of the religious

right. I'm proud of my faith, it is part of my heritage. I think the

American people respect individuals with faith, that is the kind of

person they want to lead the country. Republican politics now

boils down to two things, hard cash and God. Mitt Romney has both. What

is the problem? The problem is, for some, he has the wrong kind of God.

One in four Americans, according to a major poll, said they would be

less likely to vote for a Morman. For Evangelical Christians that

rises to one in three. I come to the home of Mormanism,

Salt Lake City in Utah. The church of the Latter Day Saints

craves respectability, and what could be better proof of that an a

Morman in the White House. There is talk of a Morman moment. The church

claims 14 million members, and it is thought to be the world's

fastest-growing religion. As Mormans must give a tenth of their

earnings to the church, it is also one of the richest, with an

# I want Jesus # To walk with me

To capitalise on Mitt Romney's campaign, and to create the called

Morman moment, the church is spending millions on an ad campaign

called "I Ama Morman", four words, that Romney, in this race, does not

use. I believe that music heels the soul, that's what I want to be part

of, helping people to be closer to Christ. I'm a father, musician and

my name is Alex and I am a Morman. I come to see Alex perform with the

tab better knackle, the Morman church's world famous choir. Alex's

singing isn't the only thing that stands out here. The Morman church

in Utah is almost entirely white. Alex, from Tottenham, North London,

was working in McDonalds when he got the call. I'm coming home and

sweating, I head up to my doorstep, there are these two girls standing

at my doorstep, that is very rare, for me any way, at the time. So,

they turn around and they have these black badges and these

American accents. The sister missionaries taught me more about

the gospel, and they started talking about Salt Lake and

headquarters, I thought that's where I'm supposed to be. I didn't

know why, but I'm here now. Mormanism has come a long way since

its creation, almost 200 years ago. As depicted in their film, they

believe that in 1820s New York State, Prophet Joseph Smith, found

golden plates, buried by the Angle Mu -- Moroni. He said his name was

Moroni, and that got had a work for me to do. He told me of an ancient

record written upon gold plates. Smith preached that Jesus had come

and will return to America, and Mormans are God's only chosen

people. Smith promised that they too could become gods, ruling over

their own planets. To many Christians, the foulist heresy of

all, polygamy. Joseph Smith had dozens of wives. The Mormans,

because of their polygamy, was on the run from the United States.

Most of them walked 1500 miles from the Midwest to here, Utah. And it

was here, the story goes, Brg hamYoung said, stop, this is the

place. Back in the 1960s Utah was beyond

the borders of the United States, so the polygamist Mormans felt safe.

The official church turned its back on polygamy in 1890, but outside

the church there is a spliter group, 40,000-strong, of fundamentalists,

that believe to be a true Morman, you should have more than one night.

A raid that nets every adult in the place in polygamy. Living co-

operatively under three elders, the men arrested are thought to have

half-a-dozen wives. These polygamists have been on the wrong

side of the law for decades, just like Mitt Romney's great

grandfather. Today the church establishment,

critics say, is terrified of having its good name dragged through the

mud by the polygamists. For Mitt, polygamy is political cyanide.

I want to meet the people the church seems afraid of.

This man, has two wives, and ten children.

I think it is something they would like swept under the rug and to be

done with. But, it is part of the past, part of the heritage.

moment you said you were a polygamist, do they look at you as

if you have two heads? Sometimes. It depends on the people. We have

had neighbourhoods we have lived in where once people have found out

who we were, their kids were no longer allowed to play with our

kids, we would get scowls, they would avoid us. How does it work in

the bedroom? Everyone loves to ask that, they always think it is

something interesting, it is not. Two separate marital relationships.

Two separate bedrooms? Yeah, sorry to burst everybody's bubble.

No, no, no. We just rotate every other night. That must be

exhausting? It is a regular marriage relationship, it is

nothing kinky. There is nothing peculiar about it in your minds?

have one distinct marriage, just like any man would, with my first

wife, and one distinct marriage with wife number two. I have been

married twice, but to different people, at different times. I think

it is fair to say. My idea of having two wives at the same time,

to be honest with you, it is my idea of hell! It came out the wrong

way, I think! To be honest with you, there are times when it does feel

like you are going through that, emotionally. These people strike me

as being strange. But not evil. Is the church's hostility towards

them, generated by real concern, or does it fear damage to its own

reputation. This is my first polygamist cookie,

I have to say, it is rather good! Last year, a scandal involving

polygamists caused Mormanism huge embarrassment. Warren Jeffs, the

leader of a small group of breakaway Mormans, was convicted of

sexually assaulting small children. Jeffs ruled over a huge compound in

Texas, and had dozens of wives, some as young as 12.

Both the church and the polygamists Hi, I'm John. I'm Vicky. Second

wife, first wife, second wife? First wife, second wife. What makes

polygamy even more toxic for the Morman candidate, is the campaign

to make it legal. Meet Joe, he has not two, but three wives. And 24

children. Joe is now fighting a public battle

in defence of his family's way of life, after the police began to

investigate them. They looked at taking away our kids, and making

all kinds of allegations against us as parents, and that we were some

how unfit parents. Thateningered me, and I thought this isn't healthy,

this fear that we have lived in all of our lives, and our grandfathers

and our parents lived in, it has to change. That's when we decided to

be more public. The official Morman church is saying that you are

absolutely no part of the Morman church? Well, they would like me to

not even use the term "Morman", most people associate Mormans with

polygamy, it is true, we are not in my way associated with the official

Morman church. But we are very much considering ourselves Morman in our

doctrine and our history. married two of his wives on the

same day, and Valerie, ten years later.

In the eyes of American law, Joe is only wedded to Alena, the other two

marriages are only recognised in the fundamentalist community.

really what makes it a criminal element is simply that I call them

my wife. If these are my three mistresses, which is probably more

common in Britain. At no point would you introduce your three

mistresses to each other, not that I have any. Not in America either.

What is ironic is we are not the legal wife, we don't have a legal

marriage, but we are still criminal and prosecuted and persecuted.

Despite the church's efforts, polygamy keeps on coming back. A

boomerang, from history. My brother and sister were born

before me, they were still in Haiti, my parents came here with

absolutely nothing. That means they have to work hard on their ad

campaigns to change America's idea of a typical Morman family. If I

can be that role model for my children, if I can get them to go

out and be good people and serve, I have done a good job. I'm a wife,

I'm a mayor, my name is Mia Love and I'm a Morman.

The church put up Mia for me to visit, at her home in Saratog a

Springs. Like all Mormans, Mia's family

lives a very strict lifestyle, they cannot drink tea, coffee or alcohol.

Family is at the core of Mormanism. They are encouraged to have lots of

children. This part of Utah has a higher birth rate than Bangladesh.

Every day starts with the family reading the book of Morman. And I

knew not at the time when I made them that I should not be commanded

of the Lord, to make these plates. Like many Mormans in Utah, Mia is

excited about Mitt Romney's run for President. We have a candidate that

could possibly be President, that is the front runner to becoming

President. We have Mormans that are in the Senate, that are in the US

House, that are normal people. If you looked at them in a crowd, you

wouldn't know who was who. There were some people who still have a

prejudice against Mormans, has that ever affected you? I heard somebody

say before, I can't trust a person who doesn't drink beer. Do I

believe that we're misunderstood, sometimes, yeah, I think the

perception of the Morman church is different than what it actually is.

Almost two thirds of people in Utah are Morman. Every few blocks a

Morman temple. The church dominates local Government, state schools,

and it even owns shopping malls. The power of the church here making

life difficult, if you fall out with Mormanism.

There is a significant body of people who question Joseph Smith's

prophesis, something not mentioned in the film. There is a conviction

for him in the books for 1826, the conviction, he was a conman. Some

say he never changed his spots. He desieveered Egyptian hieroglyphics,

and created the book of Morman. UnEgyptling toist called his

version a fraud. With a prophet taking a funeral scroll, air

brushing out an embarrassing fall lays, and sticking a man's head on

a backkel God. The Morman church has ten apostles, under the current

prophet, President Monson. Apostles rarely speak to the media, but I

get to meet one of the core of 12 Elder Holland. Joseph Smith got

these and translated them, and subsequently, as the Egyptling

toist cracked the code, something bleat Egyptologist cracked the code

and got something else. As a matter of historical fact was Joseph Smith

convicted of being a conman in 1826. There is a court record in New York.

We have an e-mail of it. There is a good deal of difficulty in the

early frontier life in America. But that's an incidental matter to the

character and integrity of the man. Since that interview the church has

written saying no charges against Smith ever prevailed.

Mitt Romney spent two formative years in the 60s in France,

spreading Smith's teaching, like 50,000 missionaries around the

world. He said he spent his time telling the French, give up your

wine, I have a great religion for you. More often than not, they said,

non! It was a pretty tough slog, he has said he can count on two hands

the number of people he converted and baptised in over two-and-a-half

years. Point of it really is for personal growth and to grow closer

to your own faith as a missionary. This was a real turning point for

him, and emerges from that more or less the Mitt Romney we see today,

very serious and focus, as he said, determined to live a life of

purpose. God appeared to Joseph Smith.

come to see a class of missionaries being taught mad reign in the weeks

before they set off to Taiwan. Who gives you the call? We are called

by our prophet, Thomas S Monson, he issues the call. He didn't call you

up? We get a letter in the mail, after an application process. He

tells us a letter telling us where we will go. What criticisms would

you make of the church, the Morman church? I wouldn't make any

criticisms of the Morman church. I think it is a faith that represents

love and respect, and that teaches us to care about things in life

that really can make us happy. It's huge on family, it is huge on

accepting others. You can't have sex until you are married, is that

right? I would like to keep myself morally clean before I get married.

I have never been tempted to do anything like that. So I don't know,

it is a commandment that I have been given and I respect it, and I

want to follow it. As best I can. The Morman church has sent more

than a million missionaries around the world. After his own mission in

France, Mitt Romney returned to Boston.

Throughout his life Mitt Romney has been committed to Mormanism, here

in Boston, at this church, Mitt Romney wasn't an ordinary

parishioner, he was a Morman bishop. # Good choices help me

# And my family too Great job, Samuel wants to be

baptised, is that a good choice? Thumbs up. Romney led Sunday

services, ran Bible classes for children, and looked after his

4,000-strong congregation for five years, here in the 1980s.

He was a bishop and then also the President of the Boston Stake,

which is like being the President of a Catholic diocese. Some people

describe him as a very flexible leader, somebody who was very

sensitive to their concerns, somebody who cared deeply about his

flock, so to speak. Many here speak highly of Bishop

Romney, but not all. Peggy, hi, John Sweeney. Peggy was

one of Mitt's congregation, and used to babysit his sons, she has

never given a television interview before. He looked like a typical

young Morman missionary, someone who just returned serving a mission,

he was very clean cut. You know, nice, dark suits, and white shirts.

You know, looked like a nice family guy. When Peggy fell pregnant, she

got a visit from Romney, having a child out of wedlock is frowned

upon by the church. She says Bishop Romney told her to give up her baby

for adoption. He said, well are you suggested that I give up my child

to the church? And he pretty much said, yeah, that is exactly what we

are asking you to do, give your child up to the church. He said,

some what casually, well you know you are facing some serious

consequences, pretty much, and if you don't give up your child, then

you would be considered to be in violation of the doctrines of the

church. And in effect what that would mean is you would be

excommunicated. Excommunication is pretty much the most serious thing

that can happen in the church. Ace continued to resist, he came off

more stern, more firm, digging his heels in, no, this is what the

church wants. My son was a gift to me. There was no way that the

church was taking him. Peggy went ahead and had her son,

Dane, when he was a baby, he fell ill, Peggy called Mitt Romney from

the hospital, asking him to come and bless the child. He sent two

people who I had never seen before, and didn't know who they were. At

this point he's still my bishop, and I felt like I was really

reaching out to Mitt, because I was scared, and I was worried. Perhaps

one of the blessing is -- wanting the blessing as much for myself as

for Dane. That he sent someone else was hurtful. I think that was

pretty much my last contact with the church. Peggy's son survived

and is now 27, living in Salt Lake City. I'm so glad that I didn't

listen to Mitt's advice, and if you could meet my son, we're so much

alike. We're like two people that should never have been separated.

Mitt Romney denies he threatened Peggy with excommunication. The

Morman church is not only accused of aggressively watching over the

lives of its parishioners. There is a bigger problem for the Morman

candidate. His enemies play up America's suspicion of his faith.

Do we prefer somebody who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ? Or

somebody who is a good moral person but is part of a cult, and it is

not politically correct to say, but it is true. Mormanism is a cult.

Mormanism is a cult. The church vehemently denies being

a cult. Mitt's campaign reportedly branded

such voices religious bigots. But it is harder to condemn critics

from within. Kay is a lawyer who left the church after 45 years.

is very cultish in its behaviour, and what it demands of its people,

it doesn't allow them free thought, it makes them perform these

legalistic, symbolic very strange behaviours, and tells them that

those are required of God for their salvation.

I have heard about special undergarments, the critics call

them "magic pants", which Mormans must wear once they are man and

wife. When Kay married a Morman, she was given them on her wedding

day. I was drenched in sweat, and I woke up and realised that on my

garments there were these signs, on each breast and on the naval, and I

didn't know what they meant. I won't speak more about them, but

you can find out about them on the Internet, they are pagan signs, and

they are signs that came from masonry, they have nothing to do

with Christianity, or God, or loving people, or anything like

that. It is a pagan, cult iark thing, that you are required to

wear -- cultish thing, that you are required to wear all the time.

you will committed Morman, Mitt himself is believed to wear these

undergarments. In Utah, the power of the latter day saints, the LDS

Channel Tunnel, means people who leave Mormanism struggle to adjust

to life outside it. I come to a bar, outside Salt Lake City, to meet

Jeff, he comes to meet ex-Mormans every week. Is Mormanism a cult?

Yes it is. It has the primary features of a cult. There is a

figurehead at the head, that members essentially worship, you

get your rules for behaviour from the church, down to what you can

and cannot eat, the underwear that you wear, it has risen to social

acceptability because of the money it has. It can create these

marketing campaigns, and do like its current campaign, I Ama Morman,

that is misleading. The people they feature in those, are people that

are on the fringe of Mormanism, they are not the typical Morman.

Tell me about the temple and the oath, there is something like this?

I'm a little uncomfortable with doing it, not because of the people,

because of the people at the table there. They might be LDS. Shall we

move away, they can see you? Even for someone as bold as Jeff, there

is still a stigma attached to being an ex-Morman in Utah, and fear.

the temple you learn secret handshakes, and you go through

various motions, and one of those that became controversial, and they

did away with it, was this motion of slitting your throat. When you

do that you say I will suffer my life to be taken. Then you do it,

there is another one where you slit your bowels open by doing the same

sort of a motion, that was done away with too.

Would Mitt Romney have sworn that oat? Oh yeah. -- Oath? Oh yeah.

adult Mormans would have sworn the oath until it was abandoned in 1990,

including Mitt Romney. That raises questions if they have a hold on

the man who may end up in the White House. Let's talk about Mitt Romney,

the man who may well become the most powerful man on earth. As a

Morman, in the temple, I have been told, he would have sworn an oath

to say that he would not pass on what happens in the temple, lest he

slit his throat, is that true? That's not true. We do not have

penalties in the temple. You used to? We used to. Therefore, he swore

an oath, saying I will not tell anyone about the secrets here, lest

I slit my throat? Well, the vow that was made was regarding the

ordinance, the ordinance of the temple. It sounds Masonic, Sir?

is similar to a Masonic relationship. Potentially, the most

powerful man in the world, has sworn an oath, which he meant at

the time, whatever it is now, that he must not tell anyone about what

he has seen, lest he slit his throat? That he would not tell

anyone about his personal pledge to the Lord. I'm assuming that any

religious candidate, and an evangelical, a Roman Catholic, Newt

Gingrich, Osama -- I mean President Obama, I'm assuming -- Osama, I

mean President Obama, I'm assuming has pledged some loyalty to God, or

else what kind of God is that. Romney seems to recognise that the

American public harbours suspicions about Mormanism, in part because of

its secrecy. On the stump he avoids the "M" word, ands beginerically

about his faith. This is in the constitution, and there is no

religious subtext for office, this is something Mitt Romney says when

asked about his faith it's conscious about the political

environment, he has seen the same polls that you have, showing

sceptics out in the general population about his faith.

Romney speaks about his dedication to Jesus, but leaves it at that.

The issue is not what Mormans believe in, in the 21st century,

you can believe that Jesus walked on water, you can believe in space

aliens, nothing, it is your right. What I want to find out, is what

happens if you are a Morman and you stop believing, and decide to leave

the church. Paul straten to was, he says,

disowned by his parents, after leaving Mormanism. He took me to a

group, they call themselves post- Mormans, they help each other

adjust to life outside the church. In time they will take away your

relations with your families, they will take away your status and your

community and your family. For some people it can affect their jobs,

and for a community that talks about community and love, they have

nothing of it. Each one has a similar story about being cut off

from community and loved ones if you leave the church. If you leave

their small little nest, they use the leverage of destroying the

family to keep you there. People who leave aren't allowed to attend

their children's weddings in the Morman holy of holeies, the temple.

-- holies, the temple. I did have to stay outside the temple during

her marriage, it was probably the hardest thing I had to do. I

couldn't get control of myself. I should be there, I should be there,

they shouldn't keep me from this. I think the church deliberately

tries to make people feel this way, suppose her daughter really wanted

to include her parents, she would be under tremendous pressure not to.

I hear of an organisation called The Strengthening Church Members

Committee, set up to investigate polygamists. Based in the Morman

corporate affairs building. No-one at the meeting is a

polygamist, but some here suspect they too have been investigated.

I don't know how they do it, but my membership records find where I'm

living at, and they send either the home teachers, or missionaries to

my home to try to get me to come back. I work in the records

department, this is how I know what I'm saying firsthand, they do

follow you around in the records, they have a whole team and

department, that literally calls up any relative, any acquaintance of a

member to find out where they are. What is the Strengthening Church

Members Committee? It is a group and bunch of employees of the

church, many composed of retired CIA and FBI people, who are set to

watch people that the church considers dangerous, any apostate

who gets too famous or is selling a book that is selling too well.

met a former CIA man who does not want to be identified, but confirms

the agency employs a large number of Mormans, and some who go on to

work for the church. I personally left the church some years ago, and

came back in. When I was accepted back into the church I was given my

file, my file was that thick. These were letters from, and reports from

state Presidents, and letters that I had sent to other people in the

church, and so, I felt extremely violated.

I want to find out more about the mysterious Strengthening Church

Members Committee. Off to the church, to meet its

chief spokesman, and the mastermind behind the ad campaign. Michael

Purdy. What is the Strengthening Church Members Committee, and does

it still exist? I don't know, that is a question not for me. I

couldn't tell you that, I don't know. You are the head of media

relations for the church, ex- members from the church who say the

Strengthening Church Members Committee does exist, does it still

exist? Yeah, there is a Strengthening Church Members

Committee, but I couldn't tell you the details. When I originally

asked you, you weren't sure, now you do know that it exists, and you

will give me somebody who knows something about it? Absolutely.

on the Strengthening Church Members Commit year, the spokeman for the

Morman church couldn't give me a straight answer, maybe the apostle

could. What is the Strengthening Church Members Committee? That was

born some years ago to protect predatory practices of polygamists.

It does still exist? It does. it looks, it is there to defend the

church against polygamists? Principally. That is still the

principal task. And what is its subsidiary task? I suppose just to

be protective generally. Just to watch and care for any insidious

influence. But for all intents and purposes, all that I know about it

primarily to guard against polygamy. That would be the substantial,

essential part of their work. I'm not on that committee, so I can't

speak. Does the Morman church shun people who leave? No, no. Of course

we don't. We don't use that word, and we don't know that practice.

If I had a son, this very day, given the office that I have, and

the visibility I mean, if I had a son or a daughter, who left the

church, or was alienated or had a problem, I can tell you, I would

not cut that child out of family life.

The charge made against Mitt Romney's faith, by some ex-members,

is that it's a church that spies, and a church that shuns.

To check that out, I tracked down a former member of the Morman

aristocracy, a Romney, Mitt's second cousin, Park Romney has

never given a television interview before. You look quite like him?

have been told that. Why did you leave the church? I became

convinced that it is a fraud. There is compelling evidence that the

Morman church leaders, knowingly and willfully misrepresent the

historical truth of their origins, of the church, for the purpose of

deceiving their members, into a state of mind that renders them

exploitable. I don't think they really understand the degree to

which they are engaging in brain washing. These are masters of

mendacity. I think it is a $30 billion multinational corporation,

that one can expect to have the best PR staff in the world. The ex-

Mormans we have met, they are talking about shunning, is that the

right word, did that happen to you? I am alienated from my family.

Their doctrine, protocol and culture, as enforced by bishops,

encourages the families to disassociate themselves from the

apostate. We heard there are some number of ex-FBI and CIA people who

now work for the church. If -- If you allow it to get to you, you can

be concerned about things, I have been followed. When? As recently as

this past month. Do I know this is from the church? No. But you have

been followed, no question? question.

On more than one occasion. The church categorically denies

they shun, spy on or brain wash. Park Romney left me with more

questions about the Morman church, and the man who would be President.

The allegations are a million miles from the slick images of loving

families, the modern church is trying to portray.

It is definitely not normal in this business, at my age, to have a wife

and children. I guess for me it all heads back to my roots, and the

example set from my parents. I think they were married for 44

years, and there was always a happiness in my home, and that is

what I want. My name is Brandon Flowers, I'm a

father, I'm a husband, and I'm a Morman.

But however hard they try, there are aspects of Mormanism, which

threaten to undo the good work. Mormans believe that you can

baptise the dead. They have done that to thousands of Jews who died

in the Holocaust. The church claims to have stopped

the practice, but last month it was revealed that it still happens.

Recent converts, reportedly include, Princess Diana, Whitney Houston,

and, for the tenth time, Anne Frank. You baptise people after death?

Why? Yes, we believe in the justice and mercy of God, everybody ought

to have a chance for salvation. But you baptise Holocaust victims? Not

any more. For the same conversation, the same reason, would be held with

anyone. This is an invitation. But if you

were Jewish and your grandfather or grandmother was killed in the

Holocaust, because they were Jewish, doesn't it seem some what

insensitive to rebaptise them as a Morman? We have been through it and

agreed to the insensitivity and stopped doing T it was never meant

to be an offence, or anything that would claim them away from their

Judaism, in time, and in eternity, the freedom was to choose, if you

chose to have the offer, it is the same offer we would make to a

Jewish citizen or a Muslim or anybody else today. If you were

interested, if you wanted this, you may step forward and claim it.

critics say you still are? Not with our blessing, not with our effort

we are not. What is strange is that political

discussion of these controversial aspects of Mormanism is off limits.

Not far from here in Boston, the pilgrim fathers came in the 1600s,

fleeing religious Persian cushion in England. It is as if d Persian

cushion in England. It is as if there is an extra commandment, thou

shalt not criticise your religion. There is an unwritten law with Mitt

Romney, don't mention the Mormanism. That means genuine criticisms made

by some ex-Mormans, are not getting a hearing. It is not something you

are supposed to talk about. Whenever the issue of Romney's

Mormanism has come to the surface, there has been lots of condemnation,

across the political spectrum, for raising the issue of his religion,

I'm not saying it is not relevant, but it is not talked about in the

right company. His political opponents can't knock his take on

God, but they can knock his money. Nobody knows how much Mitt is worth.

When asked if he was a billion air strikes he skept schtum. One guess

he has $250 billion, mostly main through a company Bane Capital

Romney became the CEO the day the company was fauld. They don't Carey

about who I am. Let's look deeper in his life, what did he do when he

was the CEO of this holding company. On top of this, Mitt doesn't do

himself any raiders. If you don't like what they do, you can fire

them. I like being able to fire people who provide deferss to me.

-- Services to me. Jeff was with Mitt Romney from the

very beginning at Bane Capital, and featured in the photograph that

haunts Mitt. His enemies use it to portray him as money-grabbing. The

picture, I have a copy with it. I do love it. Here it is, everyone

thought this would be funny, let's ham it up and stick some money

behind our ears and in our mouths. I find that this is out there being

held up as evidence that Mitt is a bad guy, is reel pulsive. Romney

came under pressure to reveal his full tax history but refused to do

so. Yet again, Mitt has kept his secrets, secret. We are talking

about equality, one of the issues of the campaign, you put your

documentation out there that shows you have made billions of dollars,

that won't put you in with the working-class. Mitt Romney put out

his tax returns in the past two years, in that time he had given

more than $4 million to the Morman church. It is time for this

pessimistic President to step aside, and let American optimisim, build a

better future for our children. role of money in this race is

unprecedented. Rich donors backing all the runners have funded a new

wave of attack ads, some of the money helping Romney comes from

Mormans. Individual Morman, like the Mariots, who own the hotel

chain, are exploiting a loophole in America election law. They can only

give peanuts to Mitt Romney's campaign proper, but they can give

as much as they like, to special entities called special packs.

was fined $300,000 for allegations. Because superpacks are

organisations not connected to the campaigns proper, they can get away

with personal attacks. Protest- Romney superpack, has spent $30

million attacking his rivals. If Romney does win the nomination,

it will, in large part, be down to the superpack, and the big-money

donations. We are going to take back America, and we are going to

let this guy do it. Mitt Romney's near silence about his faith and

how much money he has got, has led to unease. Do the American public

truly know who they are supposed to be voting for. Romney is a moderate,

that goes down with the Republican base, like cold sick. To win in

today's Republican Party, and get the nomination, more purity is

required, and he has moved to the right, to get the nomination. That

is giving him a reputation for, shall we saying, flexibility.

Experts are predicting a tough fight between Romney and his

biggest ideolgical opponent, Mitt Romney from four years ago. When he

was Governor of Mass chew circumstance he introduced a

healthcare bill, which meant everyone could be covered by health

insurance. Remember Mitt Romney, he invented Obama Care, before he was

against it. That is what we did in

Massachusetts, we put together an exchange, and the President's

copying that idea, I'm glad to hear that. Obama Care is bad news, if

I'm President of the United States, I will repeal it.

So Mitt Romney seems to be desperately trying to distance

himself from his greatest political achievement. But on the stump, will

it be his Mormanism that hurts him the most. He started his campaign

for the White House, in Iowa. The Hello, I'm John Sweeney.

You can work out the politics of Tim and Laurie, which the name of

their pooch, George W. They are evangelical members of the TEA

Party, exactly the people Mitt needs to win round. Who do you

fancy of all these Republican candidates, Mitt Romney, why not?

don't like Mitt. Is it because he's a Morman? That's part of it, to be

totally honest. What is wrong with being a Morman? I'm an Evangelical

Christian, I don't necessarily believe in the beliefs that the

Mormans believe in. So the fact that Mitt Romney has those beliefs

makes me question him. I personally can't get over the Mormanism thing.

You are the first people I have met who have said openly and honestly,

I have a problem with him because he's a Morman, do you think there

are many other people, I have spoken to, particularly in public,

who have the same problem, but won't say so in public? I think

because you have such a strong evangelical base in Iowa, that is a

huge problem for him. Do people talk about it openly? No, probably

not, but it is there, people know it is there. It is part of who he

is. But of your friends, how many people do you know that are saying

that Romney is the man? Of our friends? None. I can't vote for him,

I can't in good conscience vote for him. I can't do it. If it was

between him and Obama, I wouldn't vote.

The evangelicals yes or no for anyone but the Morman, renter Rick

Santorum, his take on -- enter Rick Santorum, his take on religion goes

down well. He opposes abortion in all cases,

as a Roman Catholic, even incest rape, and is no fan of gay marriage.

What is a napkin, this is a napkin, a napkin is what it is, it is not

paper towel, it isn't a car, marriage is what marriage is, it

existed before there was the English language or a state. It is

something that was given to us from the very beginning of time.

Santana recognised early on, that Iowa's evangelicals would be

sympathetic to his message, and embarks of a tour of all 99

counties. This is the man only a few weeks

ago no-one, but no-one, would turn up to cover him, and look at him

now. If we go that way, I would be

grateful. Your natural principal direction.

Romney's opponents don't like raising Mormanism expolice --

explicitly, that is not to say it is not an issue. There are plenty

of ways people try to raise these issues and his faith, and try to

cause alarm among voters over it, it is not something you are allowed

to say explicitly, it service the function of reminding voters, who

might have some predisposed notion about Mormanism, maybe it is not OK,

maybe it is strange, maybe it is weird. Lock, this is something that

Mormans have dk look, this is something that Mormans have -- look,

this is something Mormans have faced since the founding of their

faith in the 19th century. Mitt Romney spends millions more

than his opponents in Iowa, but is it enough to win over the

evangelicals? Let's get the nomination, let's become the next

President of the United States, let's win this thing for the entire

nation. The vote turned out to be the closest in history.

After weeks of recounts, Santana won Iowa by just 34 votes. Game on!

As the campaign moves from state to state, Mitt remains locked in a

battle with Rick, one that is still raging today. Tonight we made

history. Your votes today were not just heard loud and wide across the

state Missouri and Minnesota, but they were heard loud and louder all

across this country. Santana's unexpected surge left Mitt's

campaign rocking. Mitt's Mormanism is not his only problem, on the

campaign trail he can clunk like a robot. But in the religious south

and Midwest it turns people away from him.

Super Tuesday is the biggest day in the race for the nomination, when

the candidates fight it out in ten states across America.

I come to Mitt's home town, Boston, to see his rally. He still can't

crack Bible Belt America, but otherwise it is a good night for

Mitt, he wins six states, leaving him the firm favourite. Let's go

forward together, and restore the promise of America, together. Let's

fight for the America we love, thank you, and God bless this great

land. More likely than nod, this November,

the Republican candidate -- not, this November, the Republican

candidate will be Morman. The Morman church maintains that it

does a great deal of good. They say they have given more than a billion

dollars in aid around the world, since 1985. They also produce their

own food from the land they own in Utah. It then gets sent around the

world. But what about the allegations of

another side to Mormanism, the charges of spying and shunning? The

Mormans were nothing like as aggressive towards me as the Church

of Scientology. But ex-Mormans told me again and again, the Morman

church is, at heart, a cult. Mormanism is a cult. The Morman

church is cult iark. I absolutely believe the Morman church is a cult.

Peggy will never forget Mitt Romney's threat of giving up your

child or else. That is where I have a problem with Mitt as a

presidential candidate, he follows the doctrine so closely that he

can't really wavier from it thatch. We did talk to a number of people

who have left the church, more than 30, and there is a massive gap

between what they have told me and what you are telling me? When we

all get together, that would help. If you give me that list, and if

you want to sit with us, let's go get them together and let's talk.

They said to me that they believe the Morman church is a cult. They

believe it is a cult like the Church of Scientology, but actually

it is smarter and more powerful. Well, I guess if that is what they

believe, it is probably a good thing they chose to leave it. We

are not a cult. I'm not an idiot. I have read a couple of books and I

have been to a pretty good school, and I have chosen to be in this

church, because of the faith that I feel and the inspiration that comes.

I'm not calling you a cult, I'm saying I have met people who used

to be in the church? I have met people, if people want to call us a

cult, they can call us a cult, and you can call us a cult, but we are

14 million and growing, and I would like to think that your respect for

me would be enough to know that this man doesn't seem like a dodo.

In America the chafrpblgs against the Morman church are not --

charges against the Morman church are not openly discussed, that is

not to say they don't bite. If Mitt Romney takes on President