Campaign advice for Mitt Romney

Like many Christians, Conservatives, and Constitutionalists (CCC), I am troubled by your past on issues such as gun rights, homosexual marriage, and abortion.

Like most CCCs, I believe in repentance. I am therefore encouraged by your stated conversion on those issues. I am also encouraged by the schooling in the Constitution you received while debating Dr. Ron Paul.

However, I am still troubled by hints of your liberal past. I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, who said that you are "not Mormon enough." He went on to say, “"If his stance on life and his stance on marriage had been consistently what the stance of the Mormon church has been, he would have far less doubts among social conservatives." For example:

• You recently stated that you think the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) should accept homosexuals. I remind you that the US Supreme Court held in NAACP v. Alabama that the freedom of association is an essential part of the Freedom of Speech. The BSA has a Constitutionally-protected right to define its own standards for conduct of its members. As an LDS leader, you should know that the LDS Church adopted the BSA program because, when used as intended, it is a valuable tool in achieving Church goals of preparing its young men for the Melchizedek Priesthood, missions, temple marriage, fatherhood, and leadership in the Church and in the community. I agree that homosexuals have a Constitutionally-protected right to form their own associations, including as couples. But, homosexuals, like heterosexuals, have no right to impose their will on any other group nor to expect that anyone else redefine time-proven societal structures or relationships. We CCCs expect you to leave the BSA, the churches, and other non-federal-government entities alone and to tell us that you will do so as president!

• In the past, you have openly supported homosexual marriage. New research has confirmed what a lot of us already new – homosexuality is not only harmful to the spiritual welfare of mankind and contrary to the laws of God, homosexual parenting has been shown to be harmful to children. In fact, the study shows that homosexual marriage is more damaging to children than are broken marriages! Again, I agree that homosexuals have a Constitutionally-protected right to form their own associations, including as couples. But, we CCCs need to know that you understand and agree that healthy heterosexual marriage is the bedrock of society and is the best environment in which to raise children and that you will see that it is protected and encouraged.

• Instead of rolling back gun regulation in order to bring gun laws into compliance with the Constitution, you merely say that you don’t support new gun regulation. I remind you that the Second Amendment clearly directs that "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." What is it about "shall not be infringed" that judges and politicians like you don’t understand? We CCCs expect you, as president, to order an audit of all federal firearm laws, rules, and policies (all non-firearm-related federal laws as well) to identify and correct/rescind all laws that are not in full compliance with the Supreme law of the Land – the Constitution.

• You indicate that you would have signed the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) with its anti-Constitution provisions to indefinitely detain Americans without charge or warrant. I urge you to carefully study the Fourth Amendment which clearly demands that, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

I hope that you understand that you will never get the Liberal vote. But, you desperately need the CCC vote to win the 2012 presidential election. Senator McCain lost the 2008 election largely because he didn't reach out to the CCCs -- in spite of Governor Palin's efforts. Instead, he campaigned to the Moderates. I urge you to not make the same mistake. Sure, you need votes of Moderates, but failing to calm the concerns of us CCCs is what will cause you to lose the election. There are millions of us, and a lot of us will vote third-party if you don't calm our fear that you won't love and adhere to the Constitution and to God's teachings as much as we do.