(Newser)
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Republican presidential contenders would not touch the brouhaha surrounding Mormonism with a 10-foot pole today. Michele Bachmann called the issue "inconsequential" and "ridiculous." "We have religious tolerance in this country, and I have a very sincerely held belief on faith, and I think we just leave it at that," she told State of the Union. "I'm not running for theologian-in-chief," responded rival Herman Cain, who called himself "a lifelong Christian," but added that “I am not gonna do an analysis of Mormonism versus Christianity for the sake of answering that. I’m not getting into that." Elsewhere on your Sunday dial, as per Politico:
- Bachmann on Occupy Wall Street: "Barack Obama’s policies have put us in one of the worst tailspins economically that we have. Maybe that’s why the protest I saw was within shouting distance of the White House." Bachmann also alleged that unions were behind the protests.
- Cain on OWS: "The bankers and the people on Wall Street didn’t write these failed policies of the Obama administration. They didn’t spend a trillion dollars that didn’t work. The administration and the Democrats spent a trillion dollars." He also blamed unions for the protests.
- Newt Gingrich on OWS: The protests are the "natural product of Obama's class warfare."
- Nancy Pelosi on Eric Cantor's attacks on OWS: "I didn't hear him say anything when the tea party was out demonstrating, actually spitting on members of Congress right here in the Capitol. And he and his colleagues were putting signs in the windows encouraging them."
- Pelosi on Scott Brown's slam on Elizabeth Warren: "The response, really, I thought, spoke volumes about how clueless Sen. Brown is. It really spoke volumes about disrespect for women that, really, he might not even realize. I bet you he'd like to take it back. ... But women know. They hear a comment like that, it tells a lot about somebody."
- Rick Santorum on the difference between racial integration in the military and the DADT repeal: "We're talking about people who are simply different because of the color of their skin, not because of their activities that would cause problems from people living in those close quarters." Further, "There are people who are gay and lived a gay lifestyle and aren't anymore. I don't think that's the case of anyone [who's] black."
