KEY POINTS:
WASHINGTON - The cluttered field of United States presidential candidates has been further boosted by the official announcement by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney that he too will make a run for the White House.
While Democratic Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are seeking to become, respectively, the first black and first woman President, Romney, a Republican, wants to become the first Mormon to hold the office.
Making his announcement yesterday in Michigan, the state where he was born, he pitched himself as an outsider - hoping to transform his political inexperience into an advantage.
"I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by a lifelong politician," he said. "There have been too many deals, too many favours, too many entanglements - and too little real world experience managing, guiding, leading.
"We have lost faith in government, not in just one party, not in just one house, but in government. It is time for innovation and transformation in Washington."
Recent polls suggest Romney trails a distant fourth in the Republican field, a long way behind both former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain and even behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
But given the primary elections to select a candidate are still almost a year away, he must be hoping that his numbers will grow as he builds name recognition.
He will also have taken heart from a new poll, published yesterday by USA Today, which suggested 72 per cent of voters said they would vote for a Mormon if he was a suitable candidate. The poll found 94 per cent said they would elect a black candidate and 88 per cent would vote for a woman.
John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Research Centre in Washington, said Romney's religious beliefs could work in several ways. While a broad majority of Americans liked their political candidates to talk about religion, data on whether voters would elect a Mormon was mixed.
When polls asked the question in context of other candidates rather than simply in abstract, there was more support. Green added: "I think the evidence shows it will be a challenge for the Romney campaign to find some way of dealing [with his Mormonism] but not a debilitating challenge."
Despite the constitutional separation of church and state, religion and faith remain a key issue in US politics, particularly in presidential elections. Almost 50 years ago Senator John F. Kennedy felt obliged to talk about his Catholicism to ease fears among some quarters that he would be influenced as leader by the Vatican. Speaking in Houston in 1960, he said: "I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish."
In 2000, Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman sought to explain more about Judaism when he sought to become the country's first Jewish Vice-President.
But Romney almost certainly faces a tougher challenge in explaining his religion and beliefs to the public, even though there are estimated to be 6 million Mormons in the US, among them Senate leader Senator Harry Reid and Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. Romney's father, also a Mormon, ran for the presidency as a Republican in 1968.
In an interview with the New York Times, Romney said people were interested in religion early on but ultimately "concerned with your vision of the future and the leadership skills that you can bring to bear".
As a candidate Romney certainly has many strengths. While he has only four years' experience in politics, he impressed many when he took charge of the 2002 Winter Olympics, held in the 70 per cent Mormon Salt LakeCity.
Until he took over the games, their organisation and planning had been beset by scandal.
Also of great importance in a political culture obsessed with image, Romney looks the part.
OUTSIDE CHANCE
* Mitt Romney is a devout Mormon and former bishop of the Massachusetts temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
* Was elected Massachusetts Governor in 2002, served one term. Ran a failed bid in 1994 for the Senate seat in Massachusetts held by Democrat Ted Kennedy.
* Helped found Bain Capital in 1984, a private equity firm that has backed numerous companies such as Staples and Domino's Pizza.
* Between 1978 and 1984, he served as a vice-president at Bain & Company, a management consulting firm. He returned there in the early 1990s as chief executive to help the faltering company.
* Hired to turn around the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, after a bribery and corruption scandal erupted involving the city's selection. The Games ultimately were hailed as a success and turned a profit after a large deficit had initially been run up.
* Son of former Michigan Governor George Romney. Married to Ann, who has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. They have five sons.
- INDEPENDENT
