Just hours before giving an introduction for Rick Perry at a political event, Pastor Robert Jeffries stated "That is a mainstream view, that Mormonism is a cult... Every true, born again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian." Hours later, presidential candidate Rick Perry was riddled with questions as to whether or not he agreed with the pastor’s remarks, responding on multiple occasions that he did not. Despite the lack of controversy provided by Perry’s response, the issue brought up by Jeffries is poised to become the central issue of the republican nomination process.
"The thing is (evangelicals) just won't be honest and tell you it's going to be a major factor," Jeffress said. "Most people don't want to admit, even evangelical Christians, that they have a problem with Mormonism. They think it's bigoted to say so. But what voters say to a pollster is sometimes different than what they do in the privacy of a voting booth."
The Pastor’s comments reflect a large amount of doubt in the accuracy of current polling numbers, which in turn, place doubt on the legitimacy of Romney’s campaign for president. However, if Romney is to be relegated to losers column simply because of his Mormon faith, why isn’t John Huntsman, also a Mormon who had spent 2 years as a missionary in Taiwan, also under attack.
“For that matter, if Mormonism is such a liability in the political realm, what should we make of the political activism of the Church of the LDS? Fowler refers to the activism of the LDS church by stating that the LDS church is actually part of a political coalition of socially conservative groups with strikingly similar agendas, “as noted, the emergence of same-sex marriage as a major issue has activated alliances between evangelical groups, catholic lobbies, black churches, and Mormons. Notably, the normally cautious LDS Church saw opposition to same-sex marriage as fundamental to its understanding of marriage and societal organization, so in 2008 it endorsed California’s high-profile defense of marriage amendment initiative, Proposition 8, and provided substantial backing to the successful campaign to pass it. However the LDS church faced a fierce backlash from people who support gay rights, illustrating the dangers of visible lobbying by religious organizations.”
Thus, although Mormonism holds many of the same positions on social issues as other conservative religious groups, it appears that it is repeatedly scapegoated.
When it comes down to election time, Jeffries might be correct in stating that, "If Mitt Romney is the nominee, Barack Obama will be the next president. Mitt Romney will not energize evangelicals."
Jeffries quotes taken from (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20117465-503544.html)
If poll numbers face so much criticism, why do we spend so much time and money running them? I disagree with Jeffress that Evangelical fear of being bigots would skew the polls in Romney's favor, because most of these polls are simply asking who people would like for President, and not why they wouldn't vote for someone. If it came down to Romney-Obama, I don't think the Evangelical community would choose Obama as "the lesser of two evils."
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