Nevada, the home of Sin City, is also home to tens of thousands of people who don’t gamble, smoke or even drink coffee — Mormons.
And that contradiction is front and center this week as Republicans turn their attention to the presidential caucuses in the Silver State, where Mormon and front-runner Mitt Romney hopes to build on his big win in Florida.
So far, Romney has demurred at questions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — and the strategy has worked. The former Massachusetts governor talks mostly about the economy, downplaying cultural issues that might bring up his faith.
One of his three remaining opponents, though, is reaching out to Nevada’s LDS members for their votes Saturday. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a Baptist, is explicitly connecting his “campaign for liberty” to the tenets of Mormonism, especially one that calls for the freedom to choose how to live.
Early last month, the Paul campaign unveiled its “Latter-day Saints for Ron Paul” coalition, which has lined up support from notable Mormons, including Connor Boyack, an author and political commentator, Overstock.com president Jonathan Johnson and Darcy Van Orden, a tea party organizer in Utah.
Mormonism’s view of the Constitution as an “inspired document,” Boyack said, makes the constitutionalist Paul the most compatible with the faith.
“Many people do feel that way, but when challenged, they leap to the more pragmatic things,” Boyack told The Daily. “They cling to Romney, the preferred candidate.”
Boyack continued: “If you had a Mormon Ron Paul, he wouldn’t be defined by his religion.”
Paul’s bold approach — coupled with a Mormon in the race — leaves the church trying to balance promulgating the faith and adhering to a policy of “political neutrality.”
“There is nothing quite like a presidential election,” said Michael Otterson, the church’s chief spokesman.
The current presidential spotlight was first turned on the church in 2008 when Romney made his original bid for the White House. The 2012 cycle brought forward two LDS candidates — Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who dropped out of the race in early January and threw his support to his fellow Mormon.
Since Romney’s unsuccessful run, the church has taken two feather-ruffling stances — its support for California’s Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage, and its holistic approach to illegal immigration.
Most recently, Otterson has had to answer reporters’ questions about the commandment of tithing after Romney’s tax returns showed he donated $4 million to the church in the last two years — and the spokesman undoubtedly will get many more as Romney emerges as the likely GOP nominee.
“They are going to have to obviously gear up for it,” said Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Mormon and Romney surrogate, “but they have probably been asked every question under the sun. It is a large church, very prominent, very global in its nature and is fairly sophisticated in dealing with [the media].”
Otterson concedes it’s a challenge to deal with all the attention. Back in the summer, for example, he had to give several statements on the topic of immigration to clarify the church’s stance: It favors a guest-worker program.
Its words reverberated not only in Utah, where legislation was passed, but in Arizona, where a Republican Mormon who championed the state’s hard-line immigration law was recalled and defeated by another Mormon Republican who shared the church’s more moderate position.
“When it comes to media attention,” Otterson asked, “what happens when something is going to be seen as politically motivated?”
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And that contradiction is front and center this week as Republicans turn their attention to the presidential caucuses in the Silver State, where Mormon and front-runner Mitt Romney hopes to build on his big win in Florida.
So far, Romney has demurred at questions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — and the strategy has worked. The former Massachusetts governor talks mostly about the economy, downplaying cultural issues that might bring up his faith.
One of his three remaining opponents, though, is reaching out to Nevada’s LDS members for their votes Saturday. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a Baptist, is explicitly connecting his “campaign for liberty” to the tenets of Mormonism, especially one that calls for the freedom to choose how to live.
Early last month, the Paul campaign unveiled its “Latter-day Saints for Ron Paul” coalition, which has lined up support from notable Mormons, including Connor Boyack, an author and political commentator, Overstock.com president Jonathan Johnson and Darcy Van Orden, a tea party organizer in Utah.
Mormonism’s view of the Constitution as an “inspired document,” Boyack said, makes the constitutionalist Paul the most compatible with the faith.
“Many people do feel that way, but when challenged, they leap to the more pragmatic things,” Boyack told The Daily. “They cling to Romney, the preferred candidate.”
Boyack continued: “If you had a Mormon Ron Paul, he wouldn’t be defined by his religion.”
Paul’s bold approach — coupled with a Mormon in the race — leaves the church trying to balance promulgating the faith and adhering to a policy of “political neutrality.”
“There is nothing quite like a presidential election,” said Michael Otterson, the church’s chief spokesman.
The current presidential spotlight was first turned on the church in 2008 when Romney made his original bid for the White House. The 2012 cycle brought forward two LDS candidates — Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who dropped out of the race in early January and threw his support to his fellow Mormon.
Since Romney’s unsuccessful run, the church has taken two feather-ruffling stances — its support for California’s Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage, and its holistic approach to illegal immigration.
Most recently, Otterson has had to answer reporters’ questions about the commandment of tithing after Romney’s tax returns showed he donated $4 million to the church in the last two years — and the spokesman undoubtedly will get many more as Romney emerges as the likely GOP nominee.
“They are going to have to obviously gear up for it,” said Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Mormon and Romney surrogate, “but they have probably been asked every question under the sun. It is a large church, very prominent, very global in its nature and is fairly sophisticated in dealing with [the media].”
Otterson concedes it’s a challenge to deal with all the attention. Back in the summer, for example, he had to give several statements on the topic of immigration to clarify the church’s stance: It favors a guest-worker program.
Its words reverberated not only in Utah, where legislation was passed, but in Arizona, where a Republican Mormon who championed the state’s hard-line immigration law was recalled and defeated by another Mormon Republican who shared the church’s more moderate position.
“When it comes to media attention,” Otterson asked, “what happens when something is going to be seen as politically motivated?”
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*** POOR CHOICE OF WORDS
Former Bain Capital CEO Mitt Romney, who recently said “Corporations are people,” just can't help sounding like a guy with an obscene amount of money. "I’m not concerned about the very poor,” the Republican front-runner told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien yesterday in a rather unfortunate turn of phrase. “We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.”
*** NEWT’S PEOPLE ADMIT TO ROBO-UGLINESS
Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign was “unfortunately” behind a robocall that accused Mitt Romney of forcing Holocaust survivors to eat non-kosher food, a top aide said. The call referenced a speech Gingrich gave in Tampa on Monday in which he said, “Governor Romney cut off kosher meals for Jewish senior citizens who were on Medicaid … we need to have a government that respects our religions.”
*** SERVICE SERVICE TO GUARD ROMNEY
Mitt Romney’s campaign requested Secret Service protection, and received it starting last night, according to insiders, who said the leading Republican presidential candidate qualified because he’s a major politician who has raised serious cash. Officials added that Romney’s team had struggled to handle security issues as he becomes more successful on the campaign trail.
*** THE FLORIDA KEY: WOMEN BACK MITT
Women love Mitt Romney — at least more than any of his Republican rivals, according to an exit poll of voters from last week’s Florida Republican presidential primary. Romney won 52 percent of the ladies’ vote, as opposed to Newt Gingrich’s 28 percent. According to the poll, he also won over Florida’s older voters and Hispanics.
PHOTO: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Ron Paul, a Baptist, connects his “campaign for liberty” to Mormon tenets.
