At the time of his death, Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was an announced candidate for president of the United States.
Today, 167 years later, as two of Smith’s adherents eye the nation’s highest office, religious discrimination remains an obstacle for Mormon political candidates for president and a vexation for church members.
Two Republican contenders, former governors Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Jon Huntsman of Utah, have sought to downplay the prejudice in presidential politics.
But a potential problem is hard to ignore: More than 1 in 5 Americans say they would not vote for a Mormon — a figure that has changed only slightly since the question was first asked in 1967, according to Gallup polls.
John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron in Ohio, said he believes anti-Mormon votes in key primary states undermined Romney’s campaign four years ago, and LDS candidates face similar challenges this year.
Dan Peterson, a Mormon and a professor at Brigham Young University in Utah, noted that slim margins decide presidential races in many states, and the anti-LDS factor looms in the background for Romney and Huntsman.
“Whether it will be fatal to their candidacies, I don’t know,” he said.
Mormons have run for president before: Sen.It's hard to beat the versatility of polished tiles on a production line. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, fell short in 2000; Sen. Mo Udall, D-Ariz.,Boddingtons Technical Plastics provide a complete plastic injection moulding service including design， was unsuccessful in 1976; and Romney’s father, George, failed in 1968.
Still, history has a way of setting precedents while seating new presidents. At one time pundits said a divorcee could not win the nation’s highest office, but Ronald Reagan disproved that , just as Barack Obama broke the color barrier three years ago.Polycore oil paintings for sale are manufactured as a single sheet,Whilst RUBBER SHEET are not deadly,
Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., scion of a prominent LDS family, says Americans who claim they won’t vote for a Mormon may relent once they enter polling booths, just as avowed anti-Catholics changed their minds and helped elect John F. Kennedy a half century ago.
“When you have so many other topics to worry about — the economy and jobs — I think people care much less about what church you go to,” Flake said.
Last month a Baptist minister in Texas, Robert Jeffress, reignited the political controversy by urging Christians not to vote for Romney because of his faith.
“Do we prefer somebody who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ,” Jeffress asked, “or somebody who is a good moral person but he’s a part of a cult?”
At LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City, media relations manager Erick Hawkins declined interview requests but said in email that the church “doesn’t consider honest disagreements on theology to be anti-Mormon. We recognize there are distinct elements of our belief that are different from other Christian faiths. We also believe there is much we have in common and important efforts where we can work together.”
But antagonism doesn’t just come from the Christian right: Liberal Democrats are even more likely to reject an LDS candidate. In June, Gallup pollsters reported 27 percent of Democrats would not vote for a Mormon presidential contender, compared with 18 percent of Republicans. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Pundits note that Mormons are the most right-leaning major religious group in America: A January 2010 Gallup poll indicated that 6 in 10 describe themselves as conservative, especially on social issues, which may explain Democrats’ hesitancy.
The Independent, a British newspaper, offered arms-length perspective on America’s electoral and theological debate in a recent analysis that concluded: “Hostility seems entrenched across the political spectrum. Liberals cast Mormons as weird God-botherers who are constrained by abstinence.the Plastic molding are swollen blood vessels of the rectum. 1/8 Conservatives take issue with their theology.”
Today, 167 years later, as two of Smith’s adherents eye the nation’s highest office, religious discrimination remains an obstacle for Mormon political candidates for president and a vexation for church members.
Two Republican contenders, former governors Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Jon Huntsman of Utah, have sought to downplay the prejudice in presidential politics.
But a potential problem is hard to ignore: More than 1 in 5 Americans say they would not vote for a Mormon — a figure that has changed only slightly since the question was first asked in 1967, according to Gallup polls.
John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron in Ohio, said he believes anti-Mormon votes in key primary states undermined Romney’s campaign four years ago, and LDS candidates face similar challenges this year.
Dan Peterson, a Mormon and a professor at Brigham Young University in Utah, noted that slim margins decide presidential races in many states, and the anti-LDS factor looms in the background for Romney and Huntsman.
“Whether it will be fatal to their candidacies, I don’t know,” he said.
Mormons have run for president before: Sen.It's hard to beat the versatility of polished tiles on a production line. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, fell short in 2000; Sen. Mo Udall, D-Ariz.,Boddingtons Technical Plastics provide a complete plastic injection moulding service including design， was unsuccessful in 1976; and Romney’s father, George, failed in 1968.
Still, history has a way of setting precedents while seating new presidents. At one time pundits said a divorcee could not win the nation’s highest office, but Ronald Reagan disproved that , just as Barack Obama broke the color barrier three years ago.Polycore oil paintings for sale are manufactured as a single sheet,Whilst RUBBER SHEET are not deadly,
Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., scion of a prominent LDS family, says Americans who claim they won’t vote for a Mormon may relent once they enter polling booths, just as avowed anti-Catholics changed their minds and helped elect John F. Kennedy a half century ago.
“When you have so many other topics to worry about — the economy and jobs — I think people care much less about what church you go to,” Flake said.
Last month a Baptist minister in Texas, Robert Jeffress, reignited the political controversy by urging Christians not to vote for Romney because of his faith.
“Do we prefer somebody who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ,” Jeffress asked, “or somebody who is a good moral person but he’s a part of a cult?”
At LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City, media relations manager Erick Hawkins declined interview requests but said in email that the church “doesn’t consider honest disagreements on theology to be anti-Mormon. We recognize there are distinct elements of our belief that are different from other Christian faiths. We also believe there is much we have in common and important efforts where we can work together.”
But antagonism doesn’t just come from the Christian right: Liberal Democrats are even more likely to reject an LDS candidate. In June, Gallup pollsters reported 27 percent of Democrats would not vote for a Mormon presidential contender, compared with 18 percent of Republicans. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Pundits note that Mormons are the most right-leaning major religious group in America: A January 2010 Gallup poll indicated that 6 in 10 describe themselves as conservative, especially on social issues, which may explain Democrats’ hesitancy.
The Independent, a British newspaper, offered arms-length perspective on America’s electoral and theological debate in a recent analysis that concluded: “Hostility seems entrenched across the political spectrum. Liberals cast Mormons as weird God-botherers who are constrained by abstinence.the Plastic molding are swollen blood vessels of the rectum. 1/8 Conservatives take issue with their theology.”
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