Phone calls question Mitt Romney's Mormon faith

Voters in Iowa and New Hampshire received phone calls from a mysterious source that questioned Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.  Such calls are known as "push polls" - "surveys" that are intended to spread negative information about a candidate, rather than collect information about a voter's opinion of a candidate.

Voters who received calls were asked questions that could give a negative impression of Romney based on his faith, such as, "Some people say the Mormon church is a cult, would that make you more or less likely to vote for Mitt Romney?" Conversely, the calls included questions that could lead to a positive impression of rival John McCain, such as, "If you knew [John McCain] was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, would that make you more or less likely to vote for him?"

New Hampshire is investigating the source of the calls, as New Hampshire law requires all campaign advertising to identify the candidate being supported.  John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have denied that their campaigns had anything to do with the calls. Whoever did it, this is so not cool.

See also:

Romney: Anti-Mormon phone calls 'un-American' [CNN]

Mitt Romney, Push Polls And McCain-Feingold [CBS News]

N.H. to probe negative calls tarbeting Romeny campaign [The Boston Globe]