At a work retreat this week, my nevermo colleagues and I began discussing the presidency. (By the way, I haven't yet brought up my exmo status to them since it's a personal issue and not something that affects my professional life.)

Interestingly, I found out that many admired Jon Huntsman, Jr. and would have voted for him instead of President Obama. In contrast, none want Romney but not because he's Mormon; they consider his religion a non-issue. I was stunned. I thought Mormonism would be a bigger deal for them but it isn't. And these folks are from the northeast, midwest, and the west.

Although highly literate individuals who read more than I do, they haven't paid attention to articles in magazines and online concerning Mormonism or "The Mormon Movement". But some enjoyed seeing "The Book of Mormon". I just don't understand their lack of concern about Mormonism because the Mormon aspect of this election is so big for me. Is it because of my background? Prolly...

Most Mormons, non-Mormons and exMormons I talk to in Utah say they would have voted for Huntsman over Obama.

I believe the religions involved in this presidency are much more important to Mormons and exmormons for sure. Most of my nonmo friends don't like Romney for other reasons and seem to be in shock when I start explaining the Mormon doctrine.

This has been my experience as well. Most nevermos on the east coast that I've ever talked to fall into both of the following categories:

1) Don't know the first thing about mormonism

2) Don't particularly care

Most of those I talk to about Romney's run have an opinion on his politics and government philosophy, conservatism, etc but they really don't care that he's mormon.

We were discussing the birther controversy when one asked, "Wasn't Mitt born in Mexico?" Strangely enough, I was the only one with the answer plus a follow-through about Mitt's dad's birthplace and the polygamy relationship. That's where the Mormon discussion ended. No one cared.

Just weird to me.

Maybe my nevermo colleagues are closet-pligs. Juuuust kidding.

Do they drive a big van and have poofs in their hair? :P

No. Actually, the exact opposite.

Ah Dang. I thought we were onto something....

Mitt is pretty generally disliked outside of Mormon circles. Most people voting for him consider him the lesser of two evils. I do not think religion is a big deal for most people. He has no personality, a hughe sense of entitlement, no understanding of how most of us live and he has a bad case of foot in mouth disease.That is his big problem,

That's totally what I've seen here in California. I have family here who are still active, and I work with many Latter-Day Saints, and they seem to be the only ones who profess any fondness whatsoever for Mitt. The others who support him [most people in my line of work are republican as they wish to protect their own financial interests]are choosing Romney as the lesser of two evils.

bona dea Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mitt is pretty generally disliked outside of
> Mormon circles. Most people voting for him
> consider him the lesser of two evils. I do not
> think religion is a big deal for most people. He
> has no personality, a hughe sense of entitlement,
> no understanding of how most of us live and he has
> a bad case of foot in mouth disease.That is his
> big problem,

In the southeast, it's a big deal for evangelicals.

For some, but my Fundie nieces are supporting Mitt and think he is great.The would probably prefer an evangelical but they are voting for him.Notice most of the southern states are Red regardless of Mitt's religion.

I probably would have voted from Huntsman, had he made it past the primaries.

But I don't trust OR like Romney. He seems like a plastic man, willing to say whatever he needs to say this week to get elected.

Romney is pretty much disliked for himself not his religion here in New Jersey. There are very few Mormons here and people generally know nothing about Mormonism or care. Some people are disappointed in Obama, some feel he was never given a chance by the Republican extremists in Congress, but even among those staunch Republicans who will vote for Mitt, they seem to be voting the party,not the man, and I see almost no enthusiasm for Mitt as a man. He is too slippery, too entitled, and has changed his views too many times to try to fit in and be elected.

Your coworkers probably understand little about Mormonism and how it has affected Mitt in terms of his personality and attitude. Huntsman is perceived as being more of a regular guy.

Huntsman is not owned by the church. He's my favorite candidate in spite of his religion because he's smart, tolerant, and has principles.

Romney is a personification of a successful Mormon male. He lives off the ruined lives of others, taking his cut no matter how they suffer. He is corporate raider who practices religion which could be called the family raider.

He's baffled about why people think he's not personable. His wife is also puzzled. It's a good lesson for all of us. When you are inside the bubble with others constantly giving you praise for just being who you are, you are shocked that others expect something more.

I'm sure they ask each other, "What do they want?"

The answer to that is that we want a regular American person. Someone who gets our culture and is one of us. I have made statements on this board that Mormonism is considered an American subculture, one of only two (the other one is the Amish). There must be significant differences in the culture, the daily living, for a group to win that designation. Mormonism qualified.

Romney belongs to a class of people so wealthy that you and I can't even imagine the culture that lifestyle brings. For example, my father married such a women. She routinely referred to her home as "the estate." She was from the South and I wanted to ask her, "Why don't you just call it Tara?" but I was trying to be nice.

We needed to have lunch after my dad and his new wife got off the plane and we drove from place to place. None of them were acceptable because they didn't have tablecloths. They were breakfast diners, but that was way below her standards. So we found a place that had tablecloths, but the glasses were not clean enough for her. "They should sparkle," she said, "it's a sign something's wrong in the kitchen." I suggested they may be saving the crystal for the dinner service, but she didn't think so... finally she got so annoyed she said she would just call a taxi and go back to Houston for lunch.

My dad ended up taking her to a hotel restaurant downtown and the kids and I went home.

The elite culture is about not being contaminated by the riffraff around you. That's what I saw.

Anagrammy

Mitt's Narcissism turns many people off long before mormonism even comes in the mix for them.

He is so out of touch with reality he just assumes that because he's a person he can relate to other people. He's been out of touch too long.

If Huntsman was in this same position it would have been scarier for us. People would have avoided the subject of mormonism similarly and it would have been more difficult to bring into the light, but mitt's behavior just begs the question of why is he so strange? People curiosity makes them need to look at mormonsim more now, even if they think it's a little politically incorrect :)

I just can't quit thinking mitt's a nitwit.

Sorry to be so mean, it's the behavior I don't like, not the person

** Edit - I believe mitt's narcissism stems from the mormon church and it's grooming of him by his father George, who also ran for president but was proud to claim he was fully a mormon product ( and showed 12yr taxes too)

I guess mitt decided that because his dad lost the presidency being open & honest, he would take the opposite approach

SINCE BOTH CAN BE JUSTIFIED BY MORMONISM



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2012 09:19AM by smithscars.

...I was impressed with Huntsman and his brand of Mormonism would not have been an issue for me. Harry Reid, on the Democrat side does not bring up anti-mormon feelings in me either.

However, Mitt is different, he is the personification of much that is wrong with Mormonism. I believe he wants to be President for his own ego/ambition (and he thinks he is the one in the 'White Horse Prophesy'), not to serve the American people. Also, it may be because he wants to do something daddy didn't achieve.

but I feel the bigger issue is Mitt's personality, which has been no doubt considerably shaped by Mormonism.

Moreso, it's what seems to be as smithscars pointed out, a narcissitic type of personality. Kind of scary to have such a person in office. They change with the wind and only care about their own ambition.

I also often wonder if the guy isn't possibly just a nerd/geek, who got incredibly rich just by his facility for numbers, and has a possible disorder like Aspergers and just can't recognize social cues. People should insist on an evaluation of him before the election. I'm not sure if it's his religion or a condition or just having been spoiled silly all of his life, that makes him seem to hit and miss (and mostly miss) in the social arena, which heavily affects everything else he does.

Definitely. As many posters have noted here, many people could care less about Mitt's religion when it comes to voting. However, he's making an impression about what a mormon is.

Many people from now on will think mormon=Romney. They can't buy enough publicity to shake that view from the minds of the general public.

to show up for any of the Republican primaries.

could it be they were all democrats?