Politicai Ticker Reports: Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum suggested Sunday that Mitt Romney’s absence at a Christian forum held in Des Moines a day earlier was because he may not have been completely at ease in an environment discussing his faith.
“Clearly this was a forum that Mitt Romney was not particularly comfortable with,” Santorum told reporters when asked for his reaction to the Republican frontrunner’s decision to skip the event, which was held in a church and sponsored by The Family Leader, a conservative group. The event was aimed at getting to the heart of candidates’ core moral and religious beliefs.
“It was one that was longer form and one that was much more personal, much more reflective of where you’ve been and where you’re going, as opposed to just talking about the future in sound bites… I don’t think that played to Gov. Romney’s strengths,” Santorum said.
Asked to elaborate, Santorum said he didn’t think Romney would be comfortable in a setting that explores “why you believe what you believe and where that came from.”
Romney is a member of the Mormon faith.
