July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Mitt Romney has had an almost perfect 2007. The Republican presidential contender has raised lots of money, tailored his positions for political advantage with minimal damage, and, understanding the sequential nature of the nomination fight, successfully focused his resources on the early state-primary contests.

Given the shortcomings of the other Republican candidates, the former Massachusetts governor would be the clear frontrunner, if not for one rarely discussed matter: his religion.

Polls consistently suggest that a third of the American electorate won't vote for a Mormon. This is especially acute in America's Bible Belt, a bedrock of Republican strength, where many evangelical Christians consider Mormonism a cult.

``Romney has spent an inordinate amount of time talking to evangelical leaders and has had tremendous success,'' says David Keene, a Republican activist and chairman of the American Conservative Union. ``But that hasn't transferred yet to the people in the pews. If he loses only 5 percent of them, it's a real problem.''

This was evident in a South Carolina poll last month. The survey by Public Policy Polling shows that 44 percent of the state's Republicans say the country isn't ready to vote for a Mormon.

Romney is a devout Mormon, with his family roots reaching all the way back to the religion's founder, Joseph Smith. Yet this should be a non-issue. His public and civic record, including four years as governor of Massachusetts, provides no reason for apprehension.

Polygamy, Racism

Some of the more inflammatory anti-Mormon rhetoric is based on history: the religion's embrace of polygamy, which it outlawed more than 100 years ago, or racism, which ended in 1978. The strait-laced Romney is the only non-divorced major Republican presidential candidate, and both he and his late father, who was governor of Michigan, have championed racial tolerance.

America is a much more religiously tolerant and ecumenical nation than it was when John F. Kennedy faced anti-Catholic bigotry almost a half-century ago, the last time religion was a major issue in a national campaign.

Yet in significant ways Romney's religious problems today are tougher and more insidious than Kennedy's. Some surveys suggest that the issue may have slightly helped Kennedy as more Catholics -- who comprised a fifth of the electorate -- voted for him. Today, Mormons make up less than 2 percent of the electorate, and most are reliable Republican voters.

`Absolute' Separation

Kennedy brilliantly defused the religious issue in September 1960 in a famous speech to a group of Protestant ministers in Houston, in which he declared: ``I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.'' That answered criticism that as president he would take orders from the Vatican.

Romney has to tread lightly on the separation of church and state, since more than a few evangelicals suspect that principle is a secular plot to take religion out of American life. Anyway, few fear that Salt Lake City, the home of the Mormon church, would dictate to a President Romney.

The real root of anti-Mormon sentiment is the religion's passion for proselytizing -- Romney and his five children all spent two years as church missionaries -- and an illegitimate threat: to some, it's a weird cult.

Religious fundamentalists traditionally fear potential rivals. Four decades ago, some church-run colleges in the South were more receptive to Jews than Catholics on the faculties. That's because their daughters were much less likely to marry a Jew or convert to Judaism; Catholicism was more of a threat.

Strange Ways

To be certain, Mormons have strange ways to non-believers. They are secretive -- non-Mormons aren't even allowed to enter a Mormon temple. They believe that the Garden of Eden is in Missouri, and they baptize dead people into their faith.

Yet elements of any religion look strange to outsiders. At my church, every Sunday worshippers eat a small wafer that is said to be the actual body of a man who died 2,000 years ago. Orthodox Jews can't wear leather shoes or engage in sex on their day of atonement.

These beliefs surely shouldn't disqualify Chris Dodd or Joe Lieberman from the presidency.

The Romney camp internally has spent lots of time mulling over the Mormon question. The governor met with prominent evangelical Christian leaders at his home last fall; many indicated support for him while noting that as many as 30 percent of their followers would have difficulty voting for a Mormon.

Christian Values

``On the merits, there is no better representative of conservative Christian values in this campaign than the only Mormon,'' says Paul Erickson, a South Dakota Republican operative who is trying to help the Romney candidacy with Christian conservatives. ``We have to make that case.''

Most advisers believe the candidate eventually will have to do his own version of JFK's Houston speech at the opportune moment; some hope he will be handed that moment with a demagogic attack on his religion.

Perhaps appealing to reason or even the Constitution, which says there can't be a religious test for any office, will suffice. Hugh Hewitt, an influential conservative blogger and radio talk-show host, has expressed the hope that ultimately Americans will say this is a secular choice and ``punish candidates who appeal to religious prejudices.''

Reasons for Doubt

There are reasons to harbor reservations about a Romney presidency: his opportunistic flip-flops on an array of issues -- abortion, gay rights, stem-cell research, gun control and campaign finance. As blatant as any was his politically oriented switch over the past year from a basically pro-immigration George W. Bush/John McCain-type Republican to an immigration basher, to placate important elements among Republican primary voters.

His religion, however, shouldn't matter. Back on that September evening in 1960, Jack Kennedy told the Houston ministers, ``I believe in a president whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.''

That's still true today.

(Albert R. Hunt is the executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News.)

To contact the writer of this column: Albert R. Hunt in Washington at ahunt1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 22, 2007 12:17 EDT