Mormons for Obama
Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 12:19:04 PM PDT
I've had a strange couple weeks as politics go recently. I've mildly supported Obama the last few months, but over the last month have come to give more of my time and money to his campaign. Yesterday I became a precinct captain for the campaign. As such, his name has come up more in my conversations with friends and family, my Mormon friends and family to be specific. I'd like to recount a couple of these stories. This is not so much to praise Obama (though of course I would :), as much as it is to illustrate how badly Bush has hurt the Republican party and the conservative cause.
You have to understand the Mormon history in regards to it's relationship to blacks (both the larger balanced picture (even I couldn't hold the priesthood when I first became Mormon because of my ancestry, that's another story) and the 'Mormon friendly' one) and remember the fact that a Mormon is a strong contender for a major party nomination (though not the first, nor the only serious Mormon contender), to understand why these stories I'm about to relate illustrate Obama's appeal and a change in the church membership.
It's a glacial change to be sure. The membership of the Mormon church is still largely Republican, conservative and Bush supporters.
But there is a change afoot.
These are stories from two family members and two friends. ALL of these people are not only active church members, but devout Mormons, the friends are Republican.
The first are my Mormon in-laws. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are both 84 years old. They are both devout Mormons. The attend church and the temple regularly. They are active members of their Ward (congregation) and my father-in-law has held many leadership positions. They shifted to Democrats years ago, so their support of Obama isn't all that surprising. They like Obama and his positions. There is also my active Mormon brother-in-law and a few other family members leaning the same way.
But these are not the ones that surprised me.
It's my Mormon friends that have surprised me. I still have some close Mormon friends from when I was at BYU and was a Mormon (excommunicated in 1997 because of my relationship). Many I keep in contact with, but there is a couple I knew well and liked at BYU (they are married) who I lost contact with till just recently. They found my phone number, called me and we set up a dinner date.
We had a great visit catching up and then the a bombshell (at least to me). I hadn't brought up politics at all because I suspected, being devout Mormons (he still speaks like one ;), they were pretty conservative and I didn't want our first visit to be a tense one. But they did. They mentioned how much the loved NPR and listen to it everyday and how much they have come to dislike much of what Bush has done, the war, the deficits and more. This surprised me. They are still conservative in many ways (they don't 'accept' evolution for example :) and they mentioned how they thought Bush was a good man but that those surrounding him were bad :D. Still, they were disillusioned with the administration and knew there should be a change.
They brought up Romney. Being Mormon and conservative (faux or not :), he has a lot of support among Mormons. They asked us what we thought about him. I told them, diplomatically, I didn't agree with most of his positions and that I don't believe he'd make a good president.
Then they asked, tentatively, what I thought of Obama. I told them I was a supporter and liked his positions. Then the surprise. "Yes, we like him. We're considering voting for him if he is a candidate." My jaw dropped. In the rest of the conversation I got the feeling that they liked him not because they agreed with his positions but because he was able to convince them of those positions while at the same time listen to their own concerns. Bush had 'broken' their conservative foundation, Obama was offering them a new progressive one.
Even if Obama doesn't get the nomination, this episode gives me hope. 8 years of Bush mismanagement and corruption have turned off even some conservative Mormon Republicans, enough so that they'd consider voting for a man of color with progressive ideals.
If it turns out to be true, it's at least one thing I can thank Bush for.
Crossposted to Daddy, Papa and Me
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