GOP convention speakers address Romney's Mormon faith

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, said in his speech here Wednesday that it wasn't an issue for him. Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, a Catholic, said he and Romney went to “different churches” but that their different faiths come together in the same moral creed.

On Thursday, a fellow Mormon talked about the work he and Romney had done together. And in his own speech Thursday night, Romney talked about the kinship he found in his church and its support system.

Oklahoma delegates here, some of whom have strong religious beliefs and most of whom support Romney, were split on whether the Romney campaign should be scripting references to his religion.

Tony Lauinger, a delegate from Tulsa, said, “I would assume it's because he feels that it's important that people understand that his religion is not one of his biographical details that should be regarded as any kind of minus, and I agree with him that it is not a minus.

“I don't think he would do it unless others had raised the question of his religion,” Lauinger said.

Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, who received a master's degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said he has not heard much talk of it among Republican activists in Oklahoma. That is likely because Romney has not tried to equate his religion with Christianity, Lankford said.