Mitt Romney gave the public a rare glimpse of himself practicing his Mormon faith Sunday, as he attended church services near his New Hampshire vacation home.
The Republican challenger has generally shied away from talking about his faith while on the campaign trail, but the window into his spiritual life was made possible after the candidate allowed a press pool to record his comings and goings, starting on Aug. 6.
Romney and his wife Ann were joined at church in Wolfeboro, N.H. by their son Tagg, daughter-in-law Jen and the couple?s six children.
President Obama, who was in New Hampshire campaigning on Saturday, was back in Washington, DC Sunday, where the periodic churchgoer and his family attended service at St. John?s Episcopal Church, a one block walk from the White House.
Romney, whose vacation home on Lake Winnipesaukee has granted him favorite son status in New Hampshire and made it a swing state this year, sat through a portion of the service with his grandson on his lap. At times he glanced down at an iPad, which he uses to read scripture.
His presence appeared not to have attracted special notice from the 100 or so worshipers ? but he did have friends lining the pews. Richard Marriott, heir to the Marriott hotel chain fortune, who has given at least $1 million to the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future, spoke at the service, one of several testimonials from three generations of the Marriott family.
Ann Romney joined an impromptu choir of women at the front of the church in singing ?Because I Have Been Given Much,? and after the service wrapped up her husband shook hands with congregants around him.
Romney is a devout member of the Mormon church and has been a church leader, but has said little about his faith publicly since kicking off his presidential campaign.
Romney?s reticence on his religion is calculated not to provoke a key part of the Republican base, evangelical Christians, who generally hold skeptical attitudes toward Mormonism.
The President has worshiped among several congregations in Washington, D.C. on the Sundays he attends church, visiting Baptist churches, African Methodist Episcopal churches, as well as the Washington National Cathedral, not to mention St. John?s Episcopal. He has also worshiped at Evergreen Chapel at Camp David.
While the candidates took the day off from the campaign trail, their surrogates continued to battle over Medicare, Romney?s tax returns and other issues.
Senior Romney advisor Eric Fehrnstrom insisted on CNN?s ?State of the Union? that the Republican?s ?taxes are not an issue? and that the former Massachusetts governor would not release returns beyond the two years he has already provided.
But Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin kept up the pressure on a key issue for Democrats, insinuating that Romney?s refusal to provide more tax info shows he could have something to hide.
?What is in there that he doesn?t want the American people to see?? the Illinois Democrat said on CBS?s ?Face the Nation? program.
?Romney can put aside all of these criticisms and all of these questions in five minutes.?
Durbin appeared on the Sunday show along with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who kept up his attacks on Vice President Joe Biden in light of Obama?s running mate?s widely panned comment to a largely black audience in Virginia that Romney?s economic policies would put them ?back in chains.?
?I wonder if he?s got the mental capacity to be the President,? Giuliani said. ?This guy is like one gaffe after another, and he?s a joke on late-night television.?
But Durbin shot back with significant effect: ?If you?re going to put yourself out as the arbiter and the judge of vice presidential candidates, we?re going to remember that four years ago you told America, at the Republican convention, that Sarah Palin should be the vice president.?
-With news wire services
edurkin@nydailynews.com
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