Who cares how involved Mormons are in Mitt Romney's campaign? Are we going to start focusing on how many Italians work for or raise funds for Giuliani? Or how many blacks are on Obama's staff? This is really a false issue.

It is the rare presidential candidate who comes to Idaho to raise money, but there was Mitt Romney last month, packing more than 100 people, at up to $2,300 a head, into the Crystal Ballroom in Boise.

"Nearly every seat was filled. Just about everybody that's anybody was there," said Grant Ipsen, a former Idaho state legislator. "I don't think I'd ever attended another fundraiser for a federal candidate in Idaho."

There was no great mystery why Romney was in town. The former Massachusetts governor is a Mormon, as are about one-quarter of Idaho residents, including Ipsen and many others who turned out for the lunchtime event. The fundraiser was bracketed by two others in the Mountain West: one in Las Vegas and another outside Phoenix. At both of those events, Mormons made up at least half the crowd, organizers said. Altogether, the two-day swing brought in well over $1 million for Romney.

As he vies for a place in the top tier of contenders for the Republican nomination, Romney is reaping enormous benefits from being part of a growing religion that has traditionally emphasized civic engagement and mutual support. Mormons are fueling his strong fundraising operation, which this week reported raising $21 million, the most of any Republican candidate. And they are laying the foundation for a potent grass-roots network -- including a cadre of young church members experienced in door-to-door missions who say they are looking forward to hitting the streets for him.

"When Mormons get mobilized, they're like dry kindling. You drop a match and get impressive results quickly," said University of Notre Dame political scientist David Campbell, who is Mormon. "It's almost a unique group in the way in which it's organized at the local level and the channels through which mobilization can occur."

But the intensity of this support has a potential downside as Romney tries to establish an identity separate from a religion still regarded warily by many Americans -- a quarter of whom, polls suggest, do not want a Mormon president.

Really, this is a non-issue for most Americans, except a minority of bigots; a few on the Right but more on the Left who would never have voted for Romney in any event. It survives because the media keeps up a focus on it -- in a way they would never do over Obama's black support. Indeed, they would never treat racist refusal to vote for a black man as the basis for calling Obama's heritage and support among African-Americans a "mixed blessing", would they?

It seems clear that too many folks in the MSM have forgotten the lessons of 1960. And I say that as someone who is not Mormon and has serious issues with Mormon teachings and theology -- but who also supports Mitt Romney as the best the best declared GOP candidate for 2008.

Posted by: Greg at 10:35 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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