Mitt Romney,  President 2008

Mitt Romney Watch: A Muslim in His Cabinet?

Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at a recreational center in Keene, N.H. Sunday, Nov. 25, 2007.

Will qualified Americans of the Islamic faith be selected for a cabinet position in a Romney administration?

Apparently NOT.

I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that “jihadism” is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today. He answered, “…based on the numbers of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified. But of course, I would imagine that Muslims could serve at lower levels of my administration.”

Is Mitt Romney a religious bigot?

Doubtful and the responses to the entire FLAP indicate this.

But, Mitt should explain why the “BEST PERSON” for the job always trumps identity politics.

Update:

And, the Christian Science Monitor has some explaining to do about the background of the questioner, Mansoor Ijaz.

Was this a set-up SMEAR by a Democrat fundraising operative?

Update #2:

Mitt Romney’s spokesman, Kevin Madden doesn’t help Romney make his case:

Kevin Madden, Romney’s national press secretary, told Politico: “At this point, we’re not focused on what Gov. Romney’s Cabinet might look like. But the governor does not believe that in order to effectively fight radical jihad you need to have Muslims serving in the Cabinet.”

Now, is this story growing legs?
Previous:

Mitt Romney Mormon-Gate Watch: New Hampshire Attorney General in NO Hurry to Investigate

Mitt Romney Video Watch: Romney Denies Involvement with Mormon-Gate

Mitt Romney Watch: Romney Denies Involvement with Mormon-Gate


Technorati Tags:

One Comment

  • Nate

    Odd thta Ijaz dontated to the democratic party before making up this story. Here is the response from Romney:

    “No, that’s not what I said. His question was, Did I need to have a Muslim in my Cabinet in order to confront radical jihad, or would it be important to have a Muslim in my Cabinet?’ And I said no, I don’t think you need a Muslim in the Cabinet to take on radical jihad any more than we needed a Japanese American to understand the threat that was coming from Japan or something of that nature.” – Romney