# 46% of Democrats Would Oppose Mormon President **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 8, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207 "2012-04-08T22:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/1 "2012-04-08T22:58:52Z")
[http://americannewsreport.com/poll-over-a-third-of-americans-would-not-vote-for-a-mormon-to-be-president-8812739.html](http://americannewsreport.com/poll-over-a-third-of-americans-would-not-vote-for-a-mormon-to-be-president-8812739.html) Its often assumed that most opponents of a Mormon candidate for President would be Evangelicals. However according to the poll above 46% of Democrats would oppose a Mormon candidate for President while 29% of Republicans would. And the intolerence isn’t limited to old coots either-a majority of young voters would oppose a Mormon candidate. Apparently anti-Mormon bigotry is one of the few bigotries that is growing in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/2 "2012-04-08T23:20:43Z")
Probably because both Mormon candidates are Republicans, more than just bigotry. I wouldn’t vote for a Scientologist, not because I’m necessarily a bigot, but rather because they’re, you know, insane. Not all Mormons subscribe wholly to the tenets of the cult, just like not all Catholics subscribe to all Papist views. Of the two Mormons who have been in this race, I had more respect for Huntsman than Romney and could have seen myself voting for him, if necessary. Romney being a Mormon is less an issue than Romney being a clueless rich boy wanting to play president. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/3 "2012-04-08T23:25:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Probably because both Mormon candidates are Republicans, more than just bigotry. I wouldn’t vote for a Scientologist, not because I’m necessarily a bigot, but rather because they’re, you know, insane. Not all Mormons subscribe wholly to the tenets of the cult, just like not all Catholics subscribe to all Papist views. Of the two Mormons who have been in this race, I had more respect for Huntsman than Romney and could have seen myself voting for him, if necessary. Romney being a Mormon is less an issue than Romney being a clueless rich boy wanting to play president. The question was however “Would you vote for a Mormon for President”? After all people don’t say they wouldn’t vote for a black man or a woman for President just because it was Obama or Palin who was running. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/4 "2012-04-08T23:31:54Z")
[Interesting poll](http://media.pollposition.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/Poll-Position-Crosstabs-Mormon-for-President.pdf) (PDF of cross-tabs). It shows that 40% of men would vote no, which isn’t what you’d expect if people just saw it as a referendum on Romney (you’d expect more women than men to oppose him, like Romney’s actual support by gender). Though it is worth pointing out that the margin of error for the sub-groups would be higher than the +/- 3 for the whole poll. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/5 "2012-04-09T00:20:20Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The question was however “Would you vote for a Mormon for President”? After all people don’t say they wouldn’t vote for a black man or a woman for President just because it was Obama or Palin who was running. I think it’s got less to do with religious bigotry and more with the assumption that a Mormon presidential candidate would oppose most of the things young Democrats believe. Which isn’t necessarily true. ETA: The fact that more Democrats than Republicans said they wouldn’t vote for a Mormon candidate is what suggests (to me) that the motivation here is political rather than some kind of anti-Mormon sentiment. After all, Harry Reid is a Mormon, and plenty of Democrats voted for him, and his religious beliefs weren’t a big issue in the campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/6 "2012-04-09T00:23:46Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The question was however “Would you vote for a Mormon for President”? After all people don’t say they wouldn’t vote for a black man or a woman for President just because it was Obama or Palin who was running. Sure, it says “Would you vote for a Mormon for President”, but because Mitt Romney, who is running now, is Mormon, people have him in their mind when the pollsters ask the question, so that’s going to skew the results. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/7 "2012-04-09T00:28:02Z")
> [@](#): > > “Would you vote for a Mormon for President”? If he/she is running as a republican, then no I will not vote for them and their religious beliefs don’t matter. The Mormons spent buckets of money getting Prop 8 passed here in Californian, many will not forget that for a while. It would depend on his/her position on gay rights among other issues. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/8 "2012-04-09T01:07:22Z")
Note that Mormons tend by a huge amount to be Republicans rather than Democrats - 74% as opposed to 17%: > **[Politics, Society and Morality](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/01/12/mormons-in-america-politics-society-and-morality/)** > > Mormons are more conservative than the general public on a variety of political, social and moral issues. Compared with the population as a whole, Mormons I can’t offhand find any equally good statistics on the percentage of Evangelicals who are Republicans rather than Democrats, but I think that it’s somewhat less than that. So Mormons tend to be Republicans rather than Democrats by a larger percentage than Evangelicals do and I think they also tend to be conservative rather than liberal by a larger percentage than Evangelicals do. I realize that many liberal posters on the SDMB don’t know this or at least don’t think much about it. I suspect that this is because Mormons tend not to discuss their religion when talking about their political leanings. Given that some liberal posters here have said things like “There’s no way I would vote for an Evangelical, since even if they don’t talk about it, they’re really conservative,” I could easily believe that some liberals who do know about the overwhelming leanings of Mormons towards conservatism might say the same thing about Mormons. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/9 "2012-04-09T01:21:07Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > [Interesting poll](http://media.pollposition.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/Poll-Position-Crosstabs-Mormon-for-President.pdf) (PDF of cross-tabs). > > It shows that 40% of men would vote no, which isn’t what you’d expect if people just saw it as a referendum on Romney (you’d expect more women than men to oppose him, like Romney’s actual support by gender). > > Though it is worth pointing out that the margin of error for the sub-groups would be higher than the +/- 3 for the whole poll. I didn’t read it that way. Men and women have equal support for a Mormon candidate, it’s just that among the remainder, men tilt towards “No” rather than “No opinion”. Personally, I suspect that more Republicans than Democrats have thought the matter over and have decided to err on the side of tolerance. The real odd result was age: older folks are more tolerant: **Vote for a Mormon Presidential Candidate: No.** age 18-29: 52.9% 30-44: 37.6 45-64: 31.2 65+ 23.6 Yes answers follow an analogous pattern, generally increasing with age. No opinion fluctuates. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/10 "2012-04-09T01:34:22Z")
It’s probably because Mormons are perceived as being very conservative. Maybe Mormons need to get the word out about Harry Reid. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/11 "2012-04-09T01:45:48Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > [http://americannewsreport.com/poll-over-a-third-of-americans-would-not-vote-for-a-mormon-to-be-president-8812739.html](http://americannewsreport.com/poll-over-a-third-of-americans-would-not-vote-for-a-mormon-to-be-president-8812739.html) > > Its often assumed that most opponents of a Mormon candidate for President would be Evangelicals. However according to the poll above 46% of Democrats would oppose a Mormon candidate for President while 29% of Republicans would. And the intolerence isn’t limited to old coots either-a majority of young voters would oppose a Mormon candidate. > > Apparently anti-Mormon bigotry is one of the few bigotries that is growing in this country. Why is it unreasonable to say that I wouldn’t vote for a Mormon as President? Leaving aside the LDS Church’s long history of white supremacy, sexism, polygamy, human sacrifice, and other horrible things, I believe that any person who thoroughly examines the claims of that Church would have to conclude that its claims are not true. If a Presidential candidate accepts those claims, this suggests something lacking in that candidate’s ability to distinguish truth from falsehood. The President of the United States must be able to distinguish truth from falsehood. Hence a Mormon candidate lacks one of the necessary qualifications for the Presidency. It is, I suppose, possible that a Mormon candidate would have enough positive attributes to outweigh that negative attribute, but I find it rather unlikely. Thus it seems to me quite reasonable to say that I wouldn’t vote for a Mormon candidate. (In the particular case of Mitt Romney, there are plentiful reasons to reject him without mentioning his religion, but nonetheless his religion is a reason.) ---
**Author:** ![Oldeb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@Oldeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldeb)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/12 "2012-04-09T01:47:47Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > The real odd result was age: older folks are more tolerant This is almost certainly an artifact of Prop 8 and the money spent by the Latter Day Saints. Younger voters are both more likely to support gay rights and more likely to have followed the story about the funding of Prop 8. Notably while there are very few Mormon who’ve been Democratic Congressmen, none of them seem to have been hurt by their religion with voters. Reid has already been mentioned, but the others have all come from largely Republican districts and states (mostly Utah and Idaho), so it’s unlikely that they lost because of religion. The only one for whom it might have been possible was Dick Swett in 1994 and 1998. But the '98 election was lost by less than 20,000 votes and in '94 he was too busy getting death threats for his support of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban to be worried about his religion. ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/13 "2012-04-09T02:02:50Z")
Don’t forget Tom Udall, from New Mexico, which is not a particularly conservative state these days. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/14 "2012-04-09T02:14:57Z")
From Wikipedia: **List of Latter Day Saints: US Politicians** Currently in office U.S. Senate ``` Mike Crapo, (R-Idaho) Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah) Dean Heller, (R-Nevada) Mike Lee, (R-Utah) Harry Reid, senate majority leader, (D-Nevada) Tom Udall, (D-New Mexico) ``` U.S. House of Representatives ``` Rob Bishop, (R-Utah) Leonard Boswell, (D-Iowa), Community of Christ[199] Jason Chaffetz, (R-Utah) Eni Faleomavaega, nonvoting delegate (D-American Samoa) Jeff Flake, (R-Arizona) Wally Herger, (R-California) Raúl Labrador, (R-Idaho) Jim Matheson, (D-Utah) Buck McKeon, (R-California) Mike Simpson, (R-Idaho) ``` Governors ``` Gary Herbert, (R-Utah) ``` Past office holders U.S. Senate ``` Bob Bennett, (R-Utah, 1993–2010) Berkeley Bunker, (D-Nevada, 1940–42) Howard Cannon, (D-Nevada, 1959–83) Jake Garn, (R-Utah, 1974–93) Paula Hawkins, (R-Florida, 1981–87) William H. King, (D-Utah, 1917–1941) Frank E. Moss, (D-Utah, 1959–77) Gordon Smith, (R-Oregon, 1997–2009) Reed Smoot, (R-Utah, 1903–33) Elbert Duncan Thomas, (D-Utah, 1933–51) ``` U.S. House of Representatives ``` Hamer Budge, (R-Idaho, 1951–1961) John Milton Bernhisel, (Utah Territory) John Doolittle, (R-California, 1991–2009) Jim Gibbons, (R-Nevada, 1997–2006) George Hansen, (R-Idaho, 1965–69, 1975–85) Ralph Harding, (D, Idaho, 1961–65) Ernest Istook, (R-Oklahoma, 1993–2007) David S. King, (D-Utah, 1959–63, 1965–67) Howard Nielson, (R-Utah, 1983–91) Wayne Owens, (D-Utah, 1973–75, 1987–93) Norman D. Shumway, (R-California, 1979–1991) Richard Stallings, (R-Idaho, 1985–93) Richard Swett, (D-New Hampshire, 1991–95) Morris King Udall, (D-Arizona, 1961–91) Stewart Udall, (D-Arizona, 1955–61) ``` U.S. Governors ``` John Evans, (D-Idaho, 1977–1987) Jim Gibbons, (R-Nevada, 2007–11) Jon Huntsman, Jr., former governor of Utah and 2012 GOP Presidential candidate. Mike Leavitt, (R-Utah, 1993–2003) George Romney, (R-Michigan, 1963–69) Mitt Romney, (R-Massachusetts, 2003–2007), 2008 and 2012 GOP Presidential candidate. ``` Cabinet officers, ambassadors and senior administration officials ``` Terrel Bell, Secretary of Education (1981–85) Ezra Taft Benson, Secretary of Agriculture (1953–61) Angela Buchanan, Treasurer of the United States (1981–83) J. Reuben Clark, undersecretary of state, U.S. ambassador to Mexico David M. Kennedy, secretary of treasury (1969–71); ambassador to NATO (1972–73) Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services (2005–2009); Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Rex Lee, United States Solicitor General (1981–85) Ivy Baker Priest, Treasurer of the United States (1953–61) George Romney, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1969–73) Richard Swett, U.S. Ambassador to Denmark (1998–99) Stewart Udall, Secretary of Interior (1961–69) ``` Other American politicians ``` Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther leader, author of "Soul on Ice", candidate for President (1968) for Peace and Freedom Party Brent Coles, mayor of Boise, Idaho Marriner Stoddard Eccles, chairman of Federal Reserve Board (1934–48) ``` > **[List of Latter Day Saints | Politics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latter_Day_Saints#Politics)** > > 1.Mike Simpson (R–Idaho) | > 2.Chris Stewart (R–Utah)\[citation needed\] | > 3.Burgess Owens (R–Utah) | > 4.John Curtis (R–Utah) | > 5.Andy Biggs (R–Arizona) ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/15 "2012-04-09T03:48:06Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > The question was however “Would you vote for a Mormon for President”? Where did you get this? I don’t see the exact question shown at your link. Poll results shown without exact question are worthless, but someone else in the thread posted a better link, where the question is claimed to be: “Would you vote for a U.S. presidential candidate of the Mormon faith?” Little difference between the phrasings? Perhaps. But, without any prejudice against Mormons, I would answer the question ‘No’ for one simple reason: the choice presented will be Romney or Obama and, no, it happens that I will not vote for the one of Mormon faith. Perhaps I interpret the question more literally than intended, but I’ll guess many of those interviewed (using “interactive voice response technology”) answered for similar reason. Even ignoring that “Mormon” can be viewed as translating to “Romney”, the question could also be interpreted as asking “All other things equal, would you prefer the Mormon candidate over the non-Mormon?” I’d never heard of _Poll Position_, but note that a pollster can experiment with different phrasings to get an answer its client wants. All in all, I wonder if polls like this are worse than worthless. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/16 "2012-04-09T04:17:12Z")
It’s nonsensical to equate gender or race to religious affilliation. Religious beliefs are a choice. I wouldn’t vote for a devout Mormon or an evangelical Christian if they espoused right-wing views. I would consider a liberal Mormon, though. I wouldn’t vote for a furry, because ```php ``` they are silly. Is that bigotry? If so, I can live with that. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/17 "2012-04-09T04:31:18Z")
I think this result is only surprising to people who buy the Republican attempt to convince everyone that Christian = Republican. I wouldn’t expect many Democrats to vote for a Buddhist or an atheist or a Hindu either, or anyone else who isn’t part of the One True Faith. > [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I believe that any person who thoroughly examines the claims of that Church would have to conclude that its claims are not true. And this distinguishes it from every other religion in the world in what way? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/18 "2012-04-09T04:44:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I think this result is only surprising to people who buy the Republican attempt to convince everyone that Christian = Republican. I wouldn’t expect many Democrats to vote for a Buddhist or an atheist or a Hindu either, or anyone else who isn’t part of the One True Faith. > > And this distinguishes it from every other religion in the world in what way? The distinguishing factor is that Mormons make false claims about recent history, which are much easier to demonstrate as falsehoods while other religions make false claims about ancient history, which is much harder to demonstrate as falsehood. The Mormon version of history is more “obviously” wrong than the mainstream Christian and Muslim versions of history. It’s the same problem Scientology has, actually. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/19 "2012-04-09T05:05:21Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I wouldn’t vote for a furry, because > > ```php > > ``` > > they are silly. Is that bigotry? The proper term is “fursecution”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207/20 "2012-04-09T12:09:54Z")
As much as the OP might like his thesis of “Neener neener neener, the Democrats are the real bigots!” to be borne out, I believe the truth is a lot less damning of the left. Mormons are a very conservative lot (when you get past the polygamy tradition)- no drinking, no profanity, anti-abortion, etc. Since their well-known views on social issues are at odds with what liberals believe, it’s only natural that we cannot support a Mormon candidate. It isn’t that we begrudge them their faith, we just don’t want them in positions of power to force their faith on the rest of us. Look at the silly liquor laws the people of Utah have to put up with. If liberals wanted the US to go back to 19th century morality, maybe we’d consider a Mormon. But we don’t and we won’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/46-of-democrats-would-oppose-mormon-president/618207.md?page=2)