Going along with the recent Mormon theme, I read an interesting piece today in the liberal blog, "The Daily Beast." I thought it was worthy of discussion. Here's an excerpt:
"There are votes in anti-Mormonism, but the Obama administration must resist any temptation to play on it. ...
It's important that Barack Obama wins this election, but for the country's sake, it's important that Mormonism not lose."
Here's a link to the full article:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/23/democrats-have-bigger-anti-mormon-problem-in-election-than-gop.html
So here are my questions. If Mitt Romney wins, could that be viewed as a positive step toward a post-bigoted society similar to the way many viewed Obama's 2008 win as a positive step toward a post-racist society? If Mitt loses, how big a factor will his religion play into that? Also, what do you think about this author's observation about it still being very much socially acceptable to be anti-Mormon, and will that dynamic manifest itself in people's responses to poll questions?
I really do not think Obama will court the anti-Mormon vote at all. There may be some fringe people in the democratic party (much like fringe republicans calling Obama a muslim, which I think about 60% of current republicans think he is muslim, not that there's anything wrong with that) that claim we shouldn't vote for a crazy Mormon but Obama will always come out and say there's no place for that in politics (unlike his republican counterparts who claim it's not their job to correct mistakes when constituents call Obama a muslim). t think republicans are much more exclusive when it comes to religion and politics. I think the anti-Mormon vote was a much bigger deal for Mitt Romney in dealing with his own party than it will in the general election.
ReplyDeleteThe poll numbers cited in the article suggest otherwise: 27% of democrats say they won't vote for a mormon vs. only 18% of republicans. Thus, it looks like it will be a bigger problem for Mitt in the general election than it was in the republican primary.
DeleteIt's not democrats that Romney needs to win, they won't vote for him anyway. Independents are the biggest group Romney has to worry about.
DeleteTrue, but the poll numbers undercut your claim that "republicans are much more exclusive when it comes to religion and politics." At least relating to Mormons, it seems like the dems are the closed-minded party, which is kind of ironic given that their leader in the Senate is LDS. Then again, the 27% of anti-Mormon dems probably have no clue about that.
DeleteMy feeling is democrats won't vote for a Mormon because like 90% of Mormons are republican. They probably also associate the Church with it's hardline stance against same-sex marriage and possibly the whole priesthood ban on Blacks until 1978. Republicans, especially white evangelical Christians, don't like us because they think we aren't Christian and we belong to a crazy cult. Just kind of my own opinion on the general differences between the two. I don't think most independents will care as much, they'll want to see what Romney has a history of doing in the state of Massachusetts and what he did at Bain Capital. I doubt most care about his religion, maybe 10% or something specifically won't vote for him because he's Mormon.
DeleteI think Barack Obama's biggest challenge will be generating the excitement and turnout he did in 2008. I just don't see it there happening for him. I think he's generally well-liked as a person, but I think Romney's biggest chance will be voters staying home when voting for Obama.
On another note, I heard some NPR economists talking about an economic model for judging whether the incumbent wins the election as president or not. This model correctly picked the president in 20 of the last 24 contests. It took into account several economic factors and according to them, Barack Obama is a one-term president. Time will tell.
And also I just want to say that in my own opinion, I do not think a person's religion, sexual orientation, race, or family history should be attacked by the opponent as a reason not to vote for them. Don't vote for the person because of their policies and the history of what they've done. Consider their honesty, character, and integrity as best as you can tell.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think the more Romney can channel what you just said, and make voters focus on Obama's record and the leftist policies he's pursued, the more success he will have. Unfortunately for Obama, he has a record to defend this time around, unlike in 2008 when he was a relatively unknown junior senator with no notable legislative achievements and zero executive experience. Obviously, lofty hope and change rhetoric is much more effective when there's little to no actual record to compare it to.
DeleteOff topic here, but back to the mormon moment. Bryce Harper, the supposed Lebron James of baseball, owner of the longest home run hit in tropicana field (502 feet), high school drop out (to get his GED and start college early so he could be eligible for the MLB draft), #1 draft pick in 2010...and a mormon, will be called up from Triple A to play with the nationals on saturday.
ReplyDeleteMormons have a monopoly on baseball, basketball, and jello.
ReplyDeletePersonally I don't think Romney's religion will be a significant issue because the economy is the most--arguably even the only--important issue on voter's minds.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm not sure people don't consider it a valid issue in-and-of itself, the 1st amendment notwithstanding. Consider, for example, if it were an F-LDS candidate in question: would we really expect the majority of Americans to ignore the fact...? While I agree that for the most part religion shouldn't be an issue, there is also a point where it really does become valid. Although it's unfortunate that it's based on a ridiculous bias, I'm not sure I'd blame your average evangelist who genuinely believes Mitt Romney is part of a bonafide cult because, in all honesty, I would be too...