After the first presidential debate last week, I wrote \u201cwhen Mitt Romney mentioned the \u2018Creator\u2019 in the debate tonight, he owned it. \u2018We\u2019re all Children of the same God,\u2019 he said.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s about 85 percent of the country he was talking to,\u201d I said. \u201cThat should have been President Obama\u2019s constituency but he let Romney have it, as he let Romney have the debate.\u201d<\/p>\n
As it turned out, that was true. A poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press came out stating that religious voters, particularly evangelical protestants, were more inclined to vote for Romney after the debate. Romney didn\u2019t stop there. Citing the Declaration of Independence, Romney said in the debate, \u201cSecond is that line that says we are endowed by our Creator with our rights, I believe we must maintain our commitment to religious tolerance and freedom in this country. That statement also says that we are endowed by our Creator with the right to pursue happiness as we choose.\u201d And that\u2019s where my troubles began.<\/p>\n