John Geer, professor of political science at Vanderbilt University and co-author of a survey assessing bias against Mormonism laid out the terms of Romney's challenge:
ON THE BIAS AGAINST MORMONISM
- Surveys show that only about half the population knows someone who is a Mormon.
This is not surprising; only about 2-3% of the population is Mormon. This is a similar concentration to that of Jews. But a far greater percentage of the population knows a Jewish person. The difference is that, whereas Jews are concentrated on the east and west coasts, Mormons are largely concentrated in a few sparsely populated states. And this doesn't even begin to address the cultural crossover that is a result of the high profile Jewish people have traditionally had in the entertainment industry.
- Mormons are isolated
A certain caricature of Mormonism has become ingrained: funny underwear, polygamy, a Bible-knockoff, etc.
- As a result, there is a strong bias against Mormonism.
For example, among southern evangelicals (the key Republican constituency), bias against Mormoms rivals the bias against atheists.
ROMNEY'S CHALLENGE
- Romney needs to first address peoples' caricatures of Mormons.
Surveys show that people who know Mitt Romney is a Mormon show far less bias [against Mormonism] than those who don't know he's a Mormon. By just being who he is, he's a kind of a role model, a spokesperson in some sense, for the Mormon religion. In other words, he needs to brand Mormonism with the Romney image.
UPDATE: He didn't do this.
COMPARING KENNEDY AND ROMNEY ON RELIGION
- Kennedy faced a lesser challenge.
When Kennedy addressed his Catholicism and the biases against that, it was less of a hurdle because almost everybody knew Catholics.
- Romney needs to accomplish much more than Kennedy.
Not everyone knows Mormons; therefore, Romney has to execute a delicate maneuver. He has to first let people know that he is a Mormon -- because people who know is one, have a higher opinion of Mormanism.
Simultaneously, he he needs to illuminate key tenets of the Mormon religion is some way, e.g., polygamy is illegal, beliefs and policies towards blacks have changed, etc.
Only by connecting his personal image with that of (a "benign") Mormonism can he then ask for people to be tolerant of a "religious" candidate.
UPDATE: Again, he failed to do this.
COMPARING KENNEDY AND ROMNEY ON THE POLITICS OF RELIGION
Bottom line: Romney failed to deliver and his candidacy may finally be doomed.
After all, had he been 100% successful in doing what Prof. Geer had outlined, it still wouldn't have begun to address the impact that Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist clergyman, is having on an extremely fluid Republican primary campaign.
Stick a fork in Romney.
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