24% of Democrats wouldn't vote for a Mormon candid

[sparrowsong]

I wish we could have an atheist candidate too. I would find them so much more trust-worthy.

I doubt I'd ever vote for a Mormon just because they tend to be at the more conservative end of the spectrum, and have opinions I don't agree with. It's not a religion thing though. To me any branch of Christianity is more or less the same so I really don't care.

[basilosaurus]

[heyjude]

It's rather disingenuous to argue that a person's faith does't matter in politics when many religious organizations get involved in politics. And the Mormon church is no stranger to political machinations (see: ERA or Prop 8 for example).

[penguingrrl]

Jun 21, 2012 17:37:52 GMT -5 heyjude said:

It's rather disingenuous to argue that a person's faith does't matter in politics when many religious organizations get involved in politics. And the Mormon church is no stranger to political machinations (see: ERA or Prop 8 for example).

And my argument is that the religious organizations have no business being involved. I realize that's unlikely, but my opinion is that religion and politics belong is separate hemispheres entirely and should in no way be involved in each other.

[llama]

Jun 21, 2012 15:23:59 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Jun 21, 2012 15:17:30 GMT -5 llama said:

I guess "well-qualified" is supposed to imply that the candidate toes the Democratic Party platform, but IMO it's too vague to really expect Democratic voters to assume that the Mormon candidate in question is some exceptional case who actually would advance progressive issues, which for those of us who are progressive Democrats and don't just vote a party ticket because of the letter after a candidate's name would be a sticking point.

See, I take the alternative position. If the hypothetical Mormon were nominated by the Democratic party, I'd assume her or his political views are in keeping with general Democrat politics rather than far to the right. I'm to the left of the Democrats in general but I don't think I'm further to the left of Mormon democrats than Baptist democrats or Christian Scientist democrats. I am less likely to vote for a Mormon nominated by the Republicans, not because they are Mormon, but because very few Republican candidates on a national scale align with my values.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, I am just not the kind of Democrat that would vote for anyone who was nominated by the Democratic Party JUST because the party nominated them. Technically I guess I am not even a Democrat at all because I feel the party overall is too conservative. I don't think the hypothetical Mormon in this question has to be "far to the right" for many Democrats to still question whether they'd vote for the person.

Harry Reid is a great example because he's a Mormon Democrat and I wouldn't ever vote for him for president. He may technically adhere to the Party platform (which isn't especially progressive in my world) and be less conservative than other Mormons, but he's not nearly progressive enough to earn my vote. The same probably goes for any other candidate who states openly that they are a member of an organized religion or denomination that is overall somewhat conservative in their views.

[overture]

Side question: Do you think a person who refused to answer any questions about his or her religion (perhaps stating something like "religion is a personal matter and I'd rather not comment") could get elected?

[Deleted]

Jun 21, 2012 17:20:04 GMT -5 @lauriergirl28 said:

I'd PREFER an atheist candidate, but I'm a dreamer
I generally wouldn't care much what people believed religion-wise, provided I thought they could govern as to what was best for the country and leave personal beliefs out of it.

Canada is influenced as much by religion? Obviously none of you live in such a progressive country as Aust, our Prime Minister is an atheist (yet she doesn't support gay marriage, due to not being married herself and that same sex couples have protection under the defacto laws here - she doesn't seem to get that at least she had a choice, but I'm getting distracted...)

[msmerymac]

Jun 21, 2012 17:56:26 GMT -5 llama said:

Jun 21, 2012 15:23:59 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

See, I take the alternative position. If the hypothetical Mormon were nominated by the Democratic party, I'd assume her or his political views are in keeping with general Democrat politics rather than far to the right. I'm to the left of the Democrats in general but I don't think I'm further to the left of Mormon democrats than Baptist democrats or Christian Scientist democrats. I am less likely to vote for a Mormon nominated by the Republicans, not because they are Mormon, but because very few Republican candidates on a national scale align with my values.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, I am just not the kind of Democrat that would vote for anyone who was nominated by the Democratic Party JUST because the party nominated them. Technically I guess I am not even a Democrat at all because I feel the party overall is too conservative. I don't think the hypothetical Mormon in this question has to be "far to the right" for many Democrats to still question whether they'd vote for the person.

Harry Reid is a great example because he's a Mormon Democrat and I wouldn't ever vote for him for president. He may technically adhere to the Party platform (which isn't especially progressive in my world) and be less conservative than other Mormons, but he's not nearly progressive enough to earn my vote. The same probably goes for any other candidate who states openly that they are a member of an organized religion or denomination that is overall somewhat conservative in their views.

I agree with everything you said.



I didn't know Hoover was Quaker. I did attend a church for a while that Reagan used to attend.

[Deleted]

Jun 21, 2012 18:51:53 GMT -5 @maggie78 said:

Jun 21, 2012 17:20:04 GMT -5 @lauriergirl28 said:

I'd PREFER an atheist candidate, but I'm a dreamer
I generally wouldn't care much what people believed religion-wise, provided I thought they could govern as to what was best for the country and leave personal beliefs out of it.

Canada is influenced as much by religion? Obviously none of you live in such a progressive country as Aust, our Prime Minister is an atheist (yet she doesn't support gay marriage, due to not being married herself and that same sex couples have protection under the defacto laws here - she doesn't seem to get that at least she had a choice, but I'm getting distracted...)

Nah people here don't really care much about religion in politics. However, since we are so heavily influenced by the US, we pay attention to what's up there.

And very weird your PM doesnt support gay marriage. I didn't realize that!

[pixy0stix]

Jun 21, 2012 18:42:47 GMT -5 overture said:

Side question: Do you think a person who refused to answer any questions about his or her religion (perhaps stating something like "religion is a personal matter and I'd rather not comment") could get elected?

Depends on how old, white, and male he was.

[penguingrrl]

Jun 21, 2012 18:42:47 GMT -5 overture said:

Side question: Do you think a person who refused to answer any questions about his or her religion (perhaps stating something like "religion is a personal matter and I'd rather not comment") could get elected?

I wish and hopefully someday.

[2vermont]

I'm going to guess that most of the people who responded to this question did not think it through like most of the folks here would do. Therefore, it definitely appears that this is solely about the fact that the candidate was Mormon...not about what that person may or may not think about certain issues. OTOH, I don't think that 24% is a huge number and I suspect that it would be at least that amount on the R side.

[y4m]

Jun 22, 2012 7:32:20 GMT -5 2vermont said:

I'm going to guess that most of the people who responded to this question did not think it through like most of the folks here would do. Therefore, it definitely appears that this is solely about the fact that the candidate was Mormon...not about what that person may or may not think about certain issues. OTOH, I don't think that 24% is a huge number and I suspect that it would be at least that amount on the R side.

It was 10% of Rs, 18% of Independents.

[2vermont]

Jun 21, 2012 17:32:26 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

I wish we could have an atheist candidate too. I would find them so much more trust-worthy.

See, now I want to talk about this comment. Why would an atheist be any more trustworthy than a person of faith? Because I'm pretty sure if I said the opposite there'd be hell to pay.

[2vermont]

Jun 22, 2012 7:35:21 GMT -5 y4m said:

Jun 22, 2012 7:32:20 GMT -5 2vermont said:

I'm going to guess that most of the people who responded to this question did not think it through like most of the folks here would do. Therefore, it definitely appears that this is solely about the fact that the candidate was Mormon...not about what that person may or may not think about certain issues. OTOH, I don't think that 24% is a huge number and I suspect that it would be at least that amount on the R side.

It was 10% of Rs, 18% of Independents.

I wonder if the results in general (R, D, I) reflect the fact that we already do have a Mormon candidate and he is a R.

[Deleted]

Jun 21, 2012 23:14:27 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Jun 21, 2012 18:42:47 GMT -5 overture said:

Side question: Do you think a person who refused to answer any questions about his or her religion (perhaps stating something like "religion is a personal matter and I'd rather not comment") could get elected?

I wish and hopefully someday.

I don't know, as an atheist, I want to know what religious background any candidate comes from, because as someone already mentioned, many candidates can't separate their religious beliefs from their political leanings. I want to know where they are coming from.

[y4m]

Jun 22, 2012 7:47:55 GMT -5 2vermont said:

Jun 22, 2012 7:35:21 GMT -5 y4m said:

It was 10% of Rs, 18% of Independents.

I wonder if the results in general (R, D, I) reflect the fact that we already do have a Mormon candidate and he is a R.

Possibly. But significant numbers in the survey also didn't know Romney is Mormon.