A moment of truth may be approaching for Mitt Romney and Mormonism. Till now, he’s chosen to deflect questions about specific Mormon beliefs and how his faith would influence his presidency, lash out at clear attacks against his faith, and decline to deal with the issue in a big, proactive way. But with Mike Huckabee nipping at his heels in Iowa–in large part because his Baptist preacher credentials are going over a lot better with evangelicals there than is Romney’s Mormonism, according to today’s New York Times–God-o-Meter wonders how long the former Massachusetts can continue without tackling the issue head on.
From this morning’s Times:

Polling on the Mormon issue is often difficult because of respondents’ reluctance to admit bias in surveys. A New York Times/CBS News poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers released Nov. 13 found that about two-thirds of Mr. Huckabee’s supporters are evangelicals, compared with about one-third of Mr. Romney’s.
The survey found over all that Mr. Romney was in a tight race with Mr. Huckabee, 27 percent to 21 percent. Among evangelicals, 36 percent favored Mr. Huckabee and 22 percent Mr. Romney, even though they said in almost equal numbers that Mr. Romney and Mr. Huckabee each shared the values of most Iowans.

7