It isn't the first time. It won't be the last time. As long as their are mormons, there will be mormon candidates.

Someday there might be a mormon president.

I wish her the best of luck.

That was very interesting. Thanks for the history lesson.

We Mormons don't want Mitt to be excluded because of his religion but his religion is the main reason so many Mormons are supporting him.
Two faced if you ask me.

Until Mormons resolve the polygmy issue national politics will be a issue.

I think the polygamy thing is the main reason people shun the Mormons. If everyone wanted to practice polygamy than that is exactly what our society would be doing. NO ONE CARES to have a flock of wives. A normal man always says no if their heads are on straight. Most men I have talk to say they would never consider such a practice. And all woman I know hiss and growl at the thought of it. Anyway you look at it there is nothing good or sacred about it, as some may claim. And for their own wishful thinking.

I've heard many people frustrated with there being so much opposition to Mitt Romney for no other reason than that he's a Mormon. While I'll be the first to admit that ones religion is an entirely irrational reason for opposing a candidate, it's equally foolish to support a candidate based solely on the church they attend. When Romney is speaking to the gay/lesbian alliance, he is an ardent supporter of gay rights and "tolerance". Then later that day speaking to the Christian coalition he is the champion of traditional family values. And even if we've completely his waffling worse than John Kerry, there's still his actual policy and platform while in office: he has a socialist streak that deeply offends the Mormon Republican voter when that streak appears in a Democrat, but somehow we look at Romney and just say "Hooray for Mormon Republicans!", as if that alone could make people honorable and wise.

Polygamy isn't the only issue that people are concerned with. They are scared a morman president will impose their beliefs on society thru laws. And people should be scared of that because that is exactly what has happened here in Utah. Look at all these weird drinking laws. If you talk to someone who has visited here they all bring it up. If we want the rest of the nation to quit looking at us as a bunch of freaks then we need to quit acting like one.

Saying "Until Mormons resolve the polygmy issue", is liken saying The Southern Baptist's were heavily involved with the KKK and that is still an issue.

No LDS Mormon today is in Polygamy Learn the history of the LDS/Mormon church. Polygamy has been banned for 100 plus years in the Lds/Mormon Faith Ive a member of the Mormon faith for all my life and There is no NO polygamist in the LDS/Mormon today. Polygamy main city if u look at a map Its Colorado City Which is in Arizona which the follower's follow a false prophet, which claim there Mormon's , but get it though u'r think headed minds there r NO POLYGAMIST in the LDS/MORMON FAITH TODAY. Even though polygamy still continues today there not Member's of the LDS Faith they belong to a different faith which the say the belong which in reality they don't

If the LDS would open their mouth and defend their beliefs and explain their beliefs with conviction, these old arguments against the church would gradually disappear.

All right-faced citizens should vote for the best man...That man happens to be a Mormon. He has, experience, accomplishment, has charisma, speaks with authority and intellect, is handsome and very likeable. What more do you want? Perfection? He's pretty close...

Mormons have to look at it from someone elses point of view.

Imagine someone who is not mormon inquires about your mormon faith. What are you going to tell them.

Well our chruch was founded by Joseph Smith who was visited by God and his son Jesus in the woods of New York.

Joseph transcribed the New Testament from gold plates that God told him where they were buried.

The Faith practiced pologamy until it was forced not to gain state hood.

Blacks were banned from the priesthood until the late seventies....

If you new nothing about the Church and you heard all this stuff, wouldn't you think the Mormon faith was weird?

and put and end to this non sense...Bring a lawsuit against any and every person or organization that slanders the church. This is the only way to push back as proven by the NAACP, Jewish, & Gays etc.

If some of the statements made and reported on TV about Mormons, were directed at blacks, jews or gays there would lawsuits and firings. As along as the church continues to "turn the other cheek" we as memebers will continue to be slandered and insulted.

Hint. How many Mormons, especially in the deep South, have been passed over for hiring of promotion because they are known to be LDS. Hundreds, I know, I have heard it myself, first hand.

The LDS church may not be practising polygamy, now.
....but, as the saying goes,
"what goes around....comes, around."
The LDS church started it...the LDS church needs to clean it up.
Just think of the taxes, Utah is paying out for polygamist-related issues.

Weird? Well today it is weird or "not the norm" to seriously believe in a power in the heavens that is alive, active and very real. But: It is felt by many that prayers are sent and answered with little miracles no matter the demonination. It is -- because it is real. It is true. God is there. You and each can know it for themselves. He has spoken and is available. Nothing anyone accuses or logics can change that. That is the peace and beauty of it. There is peace amid storm. We are just so lucky to live in America. We are so very lucky to have the freedom of expression. Included in that expression is the power to call on a Marvelous Higher Power. No one knows better than a president of the United States that strength is needed from a higher power to know just what the next step should be. They may not always choose the correct thing -- But we are still free. We are still here. I just hope we all vote for a good man that will pray! I am voting for Romney. Please vote for your choice.

Hey, people, get over the polygamy issue! It's history! The Catholics once burned people at the stake, but that didn't stop Kennedy from being elected president. Besides, with the majority of unmarried people sleeping or living together without benefit of matrimony, what does it matter to anyone that a religious group once practiced an Old Testament tradition?

Another excellent article. I am sending some out to friends and will save this one in a special file. Keep it up.

Curtis Allen

Huckabee gets the endorsement of the leader of a major Christian college, then preaches at several several churches in "closed sessions." He generally wins the heart of Evangelicals everywhere, and nobody makes a fuss about it. BYU Management Club members send out one memo in suport of Romeny, and it hits national headlines as a Church-State issue.
Just something to think about..........

I am sorry to say that Mitt Romney is making all Mormons look bad.

I liked your article. I didn't realize there were so many democrats in the LDS church that were in politics. I looked up Mo Udall and he has long Mormon back ground. On one side of his family he has the unmentionable JD Lee, and then that of the greater of the two, and Pioneer that settle down in Kanab Utah. A peacemaker with the Indian people of Utah named Levi Stewart. Pretty interesting history. May I ask why DN picked a democrat for this article?

Only the Mormons want a Mormon for president of the United States.

The Mormons say that religion should not be an issue when voting for president of the United States.

The Mormons are voting for Romney ONLY because he's a Mormon. That is the ONLY reason.

The Mormons would not vote for a candidate if the candidate were a Mormon Democrat.

Religion shouldn't make a difference? Doublespeak.

Bigotry still exists be it religious or racial!

Perhaps we should try to get Mo Udall to run for President. He looks like a extremely nice guy from what is written about him. Although, Mitt Romney is nice guy to.

Mormons don't seem to like change. That's why Utah is 30 years behind the rest of the nation on currect societal issues. The whole idea in switching our presidential representation is to allow the idea of future change. So for a mormon to run for president makes it an almost oxy-moron. Its unfortunate, because with the state our nation is in, one less person willing to make things better with change is one more person driving our nation in the ground.

Ammmee Snyder, You need not be so critical. Mormons are wonderful people. They are great people in fact. We do like change. The church is constantly changing and all for the better. Nothing ever stays the same and that is fine with me. Give it time and there will even more changes come about. I don't know what you are trying to say except that you like to cast stones. Nevertheless we can take, we are strong! So take another jab at it!

Just a Question Is Hugh Hefner A plogimist ? Oh I remember he just has his own tv show and has
a house full of women all of high moral values.
sleeps with three of them and the country has no
problem with that. But somebody a hundred years
ago had more than one wife it makes Mitt bad?
It's the rest of the country that is wacked out.

I think that polygamy is one of the issues that will follow Mormonism forever but the newer issue is the LDS church's claims to be part of the Christian community. Although the LDS church does not promote polygamy anymore, many of the splinter groups of Mormonism do. And most of these splinter groups follow Joseph Smith's teachings just as the LDS church does today.
The funny thing is that the LDS church says they have no part of these splinter groups even though they have many of the same foundational beliefs.
But these same foundational beliefs are not shared at all by the traditional Christian community.
Joseph Smith distanced his new founded church from other Christian churches of his day but today the LDS church is trying hard to associate themselves to these same Christian churches.

"Facts of the Matter" said:
"The Mormons are voting for Romney ONLY because he's a Mormon. That is the ONLY reason. The Mormons would not vote for a candidate if the candidate were a Mormon Democrat."

Dear "Facts"

As a strong LDS member I can absolutely, positively, undeniably, wholeheartedly tell you that I would never vote for Harry Reid--even if it meant voting for the she-Satan from Arkansas. Does that kill your ridiculous theory?

re: Bret,

give up the Polygamy garbage. It won't work! It was not for everyone and never will be. The church does not practice it! Who cares what Hollywood and Hue Hefner do with their lives. That doesn't mean we need to have polygamy to have morales. That comes to the individual persons own thinking... Give me a break! If that's what it takes to keep a guy morale then that kinda guy would be the worst kind of LDS person. If a person is immoral and thinks they need polygamy then they would be the worst candidate for a good Mormon! You polygamy guys need to go away! We don't need you.

I like your comment Anonymous at 3:53 p.m. I love this church, but I would vote for Romney because:

1. He is an extremely good man.
2. He is a very smart man.
3. I trust him.
4. Yes, I trust him to guide our country.
5. And as far as I am concerned his winning would be

plus for all of our country.

Americans don't trust mormons, and neither do I

I'm LDS, and I think a lot of people are giving Romney the benefit of the doubt because he's LDS. He was once a stake president, and to get that far, he has to have some honor and integrity. He's a solid family man, and utahns saw up close at the 2002 olympics how he was able to turn that around. Personally I prefer McCain but have been disheartened by his clear dislike for the man. I would vote for a Democrat over the Huckster, who gave a keynote anti-LDS speech in SLC in 1998 that's been largely ignored in the press when Huck claims he doesn't know much about Mormonism; isn't that the one that believes Jesus & Satan are brothers? Riiiight, Huck. Disingenuous populist.

People who believe the LDS church is still practicing polygamy are still wearing animal skins and clubbing their dinner to death.

The best candidate by far is Mitt Romney. I'm suprised of the unfounded or gullable hatred towards him. Unreal coming from a nation that believes in freedom of religion. This freedom doesn't mean you have to believe a certain religion, it means (I'll type this slowly so you understand :-0) you don't discriminate against someone because of their religion. Atleast that's how civilized people behave.

Many non-Mormons are supporting a Mormon for president. (Unless you're trying to argue that Romney got 25% of the votes in Iowa all from Mormons.)

The Mormons say that religion should not be an issue when voting for president of the United States. (No argument there.)

A few Mormons may indeed be voting for Romney ONLY because he's a Mormon, but many many others have given reasons completely independent of religion-- if you have rebuttals to these reasons that do not involve ad hominem attacks, I'd like to hear them.

Many Mormons are not voting for Romney at all, as evidenced by comments on this very thread. Many would indeed vote for a Mormon Democrat, in fact, many would vote for (gasp!) a non-Mormon Democrat! If you've never met any such person, I suggest you try looking beyond the over-simplified stereotypes you seem to have.

And try not making up your own "facts" next time.

In response to Mormon Democrat who posted at 6:39 p.m. Unforunately, Mo Udall passed away in 1998 as a result of a battle with Parkinson's. His loss to the country, the Democratic Party and to Mormons is a great one. He was one of the nicest, kindest and intelligent men who have served this country.

An example of this is when he became friends with Senator McCain when he was in the House. Udall took him under his wings and helped him even though they weren't of the same political party and often disagreed. It is this type of statesmen we need. Romney lacks this and has gone on the offensive against McCain, Huckabee and the other candidates. I wouldn't have a problem with a Mormon President but I want that Mormon to also be a good person like Mo Udall and not someone like Mitt Romney. Personally, I am a Democrat but I hope McCain wins the Republicans.

Being a member of the Church isn't enough for me. You also have to be a good person who wouldn't lie, who wouldn't change their position for political expediency and who wouldn't use the Church to get votes, donations and volunteers.

I have several rebuttals for the reasons to vote for Romney. The first is that he has lied, the second is that he has changed his positions for political expediency and the third is that he and his supporters have used the Church for political gain including to get votes, donations and volunteers.

I know I will not be voting for Romney and this is primarily because he has used the Church. I would have considered voting for him except for this and his attacks on the other candidates, his lies and his changing his positions on the issues. I also take issue with his lack of experience and the claim he makes that he has more experience. Looking at the other candidates of both parties and comparing them to Romney the majority of them have far more experience even with his 4 years as Governor which is the sum of his experience.

I have also had my personal experiences with Romney supporters who are members of the Church and if they were the only reflection of him I would say he was a horrible person but I only have to look at his actions to see that he is.

In response to Anonymous who posted at 10:59 p.m. I will say this again. Stop using the LDS Church as a weapon and for political gain. There is no evidence to support the belief that anyone is discriminating against Romney because of his religion and if they were discriminating against him because he is LDS it wouldn't make them uncivilized. To even suggest this is offensive even to Mormons.

I am sick and tired of other Mormon's pulling out the discrimination card as a way to get votes for Romney. You don't seem Obama supporters pulling out the discrimination card to get votes.

You don't understand religious freedom or you would know that people have the right to vote or not vote for someone based on their religion. What is wrong though is how Romney and his supporters are always using the Church as a way to get votes, donations and volunteers. I will say this only once. Those of us who don't want Romney as President don't hate him and we are getting tired of people like you using our faith this way. Now stop it or stop lying when you bear your testimony about you being nice.

I can't believe what I just read now. Everyone is criticizing the LDS/Mormon church by saying that we're racist, non-christians, and polygamist. Guess what...you're being racist towards us LDS/Mormons, we are christian because we believe in Christ and it doesn't have nothing to do with Joseph Smith separating himself and the church from other churches, and polygamist is just an excuse for your hatred towards the church. WE ARE NOT POLYGAMIST, now get over it. To conclude, I am black, I am a woman and I am lds.

Romney isn't any more or less honest than the other GOP candidates whose records he is questioning, but the media is certainly highlighting it (as are his opponents) because he has been so aggressive. He has turned a lot of people off. Right or wrong, I think he will lose as a result.

Maybe Romney's "flaws" are traits we share as Mormons: we understate our differences with others (e.g. Romney wants to unite the various factions in the GOP which makes him look like a flip-flopper), we have a sunny disposition (naive or Stepford), we are too scripted (missionaries have scripted "discussions" and are told not to dispute or argue with those who disagree), we dress modestly (look too "normal").

We have seen Romney, and Romney is us.

We passed on Mormon George Romney and got Nixon;
We passed on Mormon Udall and got Jimmy Carter;

Do you see a patter here? People who think Bush is bad have no sense of history. These two Presidents were horrible for America and made mistakes we are still smarting from.

I hope we won't do it again.

I think it is great that there is a diversity of candidates with different backgrounds, including religious testimonies.

I am not so concern about why a mormon candidate can not win. I am more concern about my right to participate in the election process.

I would not like it if the media or any person comes to me and advises me that I can not vote or exercise my right to participate in the elective process, just because there is a Mormon candidate.

After listening to the media statements, there appears to be a strong prejudice instigated by the medias that cause listener to have ill feelings against the Mormons. It is any wonder that the Media is the actual abominable church that certain people seems to bow down and worship. It is the Medias that will tear down the god fearing country that this nation is built upon.

You must stop listening to the Medias. They are established to replace your God with their Idol God.