Should the Private Beliefs of Candidates be Subject to Public Debate?

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Nearly forty-seven years after John F. Kennedy tackled the religion question in his successful bid for the presidency, a candidate’s religion is once again emerging as a significant campaign issue. Can Republican Mitt Romney make voters comfortable with the fact that he’s a practicing mormon? On Reporter’s Notebook, how NOT to ask questions.

Sara Terry guest hosts.

Photo Credit: Eric Rowley/Stringer / Getty Images News

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Guests:

• Vincent Bonsignore: Assistant Sports Editor, L.A. Daily News

Links:

• Kobe Bryant reconsiders trade demand (LA Daily News)
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Main Topic

Should the Private Beliefs of Candidates be Subject to Public Debate? ()

Critics are taking a close look at the mormon religion and questioning its doctrines. Should a candidate’s private beliefs be used as a measure to determine performance in public office? Will Romney’s religion be an obstacle as he tries to woo the Christian right?

Guests:

• Dan Gilgoff: Senior Editor of US News & World Report
• Alex Beam: Columnist for the Boston Globe
• Richard Bushman: Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University
• Richard Cizik: VP for Governmental Affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals

Links:

• See today's To The Point

Host

Sara Terry

A former staff correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and magazine freelance writer, Sara Terry made a mid-career transition into photojournalism and documentary photography in the late 1990's. Her long-term project about the aftermath of war in Bosnia, Aftermath: Bosnia’s Long Road to Peace, was published in September 2005. Her work has been widely exhibited, at such venues as the United Nations, the Museum of Photography in Antwerp, and the Moving Walls exhibition at the Open Society Institute in New York. Her photographs are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and in many private collections. In 2005, she received a prestigious Alicia Patterson Fellowship for her work in Bosnia. She is also the founder of The Aftermath Project, a nonprofit grant program which helps photographers cover the aftermath of conflict. She resides in Los Angeles and is currently working on her next long-term project, Forgiveness and Conflict: Lessons from Africa.

Air Date

Live:

Produced by

Karen Radziner

Tapes & Transcripts

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Underwriters

Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.