The Daily Beast contacted the office of Montana Gov.
Brian Schweitzer today to talk about whether his state
would be in play in the 2012 presidential election.
About a half hour later, the governor called back, and
he had a lot to say. He didn’t think that Montana
would be a swing state, but the Democrat did say that
Mitt Romney could have issues nationally because his
father was “born on a polygamy commune in Mexico.”
While discussing swing states, Schweitzer said Romney
would have a “tall order to position Hispanics to vote
for him,” and I replied that was mildly ironic since
Mitt’s father was born in Mexico, giving the clan a
nominal claim to being Hispanic. Schweitzer replied
that it is “kinda ironic given that his family came
from a polygamy commune in Mexico, but then he’d have
to talk about his family coming from a polygamy
commune in Mexico, given the gender discrepancy.”
Women, he said, are “not great fans of polygamy, 86
percent were not great fans of polygamy. I am not
alleging by any stretch that Romney is a polygamist
and approves of [the] polygamy lifestyle, but his
father was born into [a] polygamy commune in Mexico.”
Romney’s father, George—who served as governor of
Michigan and was a member of the Nixon cabinet and
also a presidential candidate—was born in Mexico in
1907 to a family of American Mormons who fled to
Mexico when the United States government cracked
down on the practice of polygamy. George Romney’s
parents were in a monogamous marriage, but Mexico
was the last bastion for the practice of plural
marriage in the Church of Latter Day Saints. (The
church has since expressly prohibited the practice.)
While the Obama campaign has ruled Romney’s faith
off-limits, it was the subject of some attacks from
evangelicals during the GOP primary.
Romney’s campaign did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on Schweitzer’s remarks.
In response to Governor Schweitzer’s comments,
Obama campaign spokesperson Lis Smith said
“Attacking a candidate's religion is out of bounds,
and our campaign will not engage in it, and we don’t
think others should either.”
