| Some local Mormons see Romney's bid as a way to tell the nation about their religion | |
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By Anna Scott Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, Florida | |
In the next presidential election Gene Strattmann will do something he has never done before: vote Republican. Strattmann, 59, of Sarasota, is a Mormon and, for just a short time longer, a diehard Democrat. This year, his man is Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Not only will Romney bring to the White House the "clean living" the Mormons embrace, Strattmann said, but as the nation's first Mormon president he has the potential to pull the little understood religion to a new place -- one of widespread acceptance. "If Mitt Romney wins, he might be a catalyst and make everyone finally believe we're not a weird cult," said Strattmann, who converted a few years ago when Mormonism missionaries came to his door. Romney's candidacy has emboldened many members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, instilling hope that he will play a role similar to John F. Kennedy, who convinced the nation to vote for a Catholic in 1960 despite fears that he would be controlled by church leadership. The co-chairman of the Romney campaign in Sarasota is a member of the local Mormon church, and members have eagerly signed up to volunteer at phone banks or campaign door to door. "There's a certain amount of romantic attraction to the opportunity to have a member of the church accepted by the American public when the church has been so misunderstood for such a long period of time," said Darren Dixon, the Mormon co-chair of Romney's Sarasota campaign. "But it's like if a member of your family is qualified and running for the position, you know the qualification has to be there first, because that's what really matters." Romney is no stranger to the tension experienced by regular Mormons. Mormonism is rarely mentioned in his campaign. He has declined to give a speech similar to one Kennedy gave explaining his independence from his church. Asked recently by a New Hampshire voter about giving such a speech, Romney said: "I sort of like the idea myself. The political advisers tell me no, no, no -- it's not a good idea. It draws too much attention to that issue alone." The political move underscores the challenge to elect a Mormon president, and also the temptation for Mormons to vote along faith lines: Just about two months before the Florida primary, polls continue to show upward of 25 percent of Americans expressed reservations about electing a Mormon, compared with 11 percent regarding a Jewish candidate or 7 percent regarding Catholics. Among white evangelical Christian Republicans, 36 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon. Mormons are a tiny fraction of the electorate. They comprise less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, and there are only 126,000 Mormons among Florida's more than 18 million residents. Their most popularized exposure is in association with polygamy, a practice the church outlawed in 1890 but which still exists among people who say they are part of the fundamentalist Mormon church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says it excommunicates anyone involved in a plural marriage. HBO's recent "Big Love" series portrays a modern polygamous marriage in a fundamentalist circle. The nation watched as Warren Jeffs, the leader of a fundamentalist Mormon group, hid from the FBI after being accused of crimes related to polygamy, rape and underage marriage. Despite what many Mormons see as an opportunity to temper these images, they are wary of being seen as throwing support to Romney based solely on his religion. Dixon, who was not involved in politics before becoming campaign manager, said he made a point to encourage church members who wanted to help on the local campaign to carefully consider Romney's qualifications. The Mormon church encourages voting, but rules prevent leaders from suggesting a candidate, and some Mormons refuse to even discuss politics on church property. Conversations after Sunday services center on gospels and child-rearing, not pundits and, until this year, not presidential candidates. Aaron Squires, a 29-year-old businessman, jumped into politics for the first time this year to support Romney, whom he calls "the candidate of my life." When he met Romney, he never mentioned he was also a Mormon. "This is going to sound cliche, but when I heard him speak, I felt like he really understands me," Squires, of Sarasota, said. "I wanted him to know that I support him, and it's not just Mormon." Squires appreciates Romney's fiscal conservatism and the way he handled the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. But part of it is Mormon, and Squires admits it is difficult to strike a balance. Just during the primary campaign alone, Squires' co-workers -- he owns a dance studio -- have started asking him questions about Mormonism. It is a far cry from what he remembers in high school, when students broke into his locker and stuffed it with anti-Mormon literature. Today, acquaintances ask how many wives he has. Once, Squires said, a Baptist convention came to his town and went about trying to convert everyone to Christianity -- which was painful because it showed the depth of misunderstanding. Mormons consider themselves Christians. They believe their church is the modern continuation of the original Christian church. They have a church prophet, or president, and 12 apostles based at their headquarters in Salt Lake City. Members believe their prophet Joseph Smith founded the religion in New York in 1830 after translating the Book of Mormon, which members believe is an ancient American text. They study it in addition to the Bible. It contains a series of prophecies and testimonies about Jesus Christ as the savior of the world, including a visit by the risen, resurrected Jesus to the people in the New World, after he reappears in Jerusalem. The account in the book covers the same time period as portions of the Bible and begins with an Israelite family traveling to the Americas. Some mainstream Christians find the religion and its story of prophets and Jesus in the Americas theologically in conflict with their own beliefs, said former State Rep. Dennis Baxley, a Baptist funeral director from Ocala and one of the leading conservative Christian voices in the Legislature. He is now working on the Romney campaign. "I think it takes some time for people to get used to the idea, just like it took time to get used to a Catholic being president," Baxley said. "I obviously would never share the same understanding and beliefs as a Mormon, but I find a great deal of shared values." Another reason some have difficulty understanding Mormonism is that some parts of the religion are kept secret, said John Stemberger, president of Florida Family Policy Council. (Stemberger does not support Romney but said it has nothing to do with Mormonism.) The basic tenets of the religion are public, but some of the ceremonies are private. For example, after attending a ceremony in a temple, devout Mormons receive undergarments they wear daily to remind them of the promises they made in the temple to follow the gospel. The church declines to explain any further. "I think that there is an unspoken discomfort and unspoken cautious curiousness that people are not willing to talk about, especially not church leadership," Stemberger said. "But your lunch-bucket voter thinks it. The levels of secrecy provide an additional dynamic, because we don't know exactly what it is." Romney's great grandfather had five wives, and his ancestors were among the original Mormon pioneers who fled persecution in the Midwest and settled Utah. Romney denounces polygamy so vehemently -- he has called it "awful" and "bizarre" -- that some members of the church have questioned it. They are taught that polygamy served a religious purpose for which their ancestors sacrificed. It is not that point that bothers Mormon Sunday school teacher Paul Bachman of Sarasota, but Romney's position on abortion. Romney campaigned for governor of Massachusetts as an abortion rights candidate and changed his mind to become anti-abortion about two years ago. That Romney sometimes sounds too scripted also makes Bachman wonder about his true positions on issues. For Bachman, the temptation to vote Mormon is nonexistent. The office of president is "too important" for that, he said. "It needs to be Mitt Romney, president, not Mitt Romney, the Mormon who is president," Bachman said. Romney, who is trailing in Florida polls but doing better in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, is not the first Mormon to run for president. Smith, the church founder, also announced a run for president but was shot to death by an anti-Mormon mob before he got the chance. Romney's father, George Romney, also ran. Mormon Rep. Morris Udall of Arizona was defeated by Jimmy Carter in the primary. And in 2000, Sen. Orrin Hatch dropped out of the race, citing bias against Mormons. As much as Sergio Santos would like to lay the bias to rest, he is fed up with Republicans this year after George W. Bush's presidency. And yet, he cannot bring himself to totally disregard Romney. To Santos, Mormonism is a focal point in life, the thing that saved him from a life of drinking, cigar smoking, drug use and lying. Today, he says, he refuses to watch an R-rated movie and does not touch the alcohol or nicotine that Mormons strictly avoid in the belief that it hurts the soul. "His values are the same as mine, so I definitely have to give him a look," said Santos, of Sarasota. "How could I not?" In some cases, being a Mormon means Romney is submitted to closer scrutiny by other Mormons, who know whether he appears to be living his faith. Dale Robbins of Sarasota was satisfied, after careful research, that Romney was a good believer -- and a good businessman. "In the past I didn't have to make a decision on such a personal level," Robbins said. "I wanted to make sure I was supporting him because he was the best candidate in the field, not just because he was a member of the church. But if I had reached a conclusion that I wasn't going to support him, I would have felt this nagging thing -- how can I not support a member of the church?" anna.scott@heraldtribune.com | |
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HeraldTribune.com Originally published November 24, 2007 | |
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