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RE: Religious Vote Influence

Comment comment by Brandon on 06 February 2008

I think things like religious or party affiliation make it easy for people to find a reason to become involved. Those who would otherwise not really care (or perhaps concentrate on things such as looks or accent) can say, "I'm voting for this guy because he shares my faith/political affiliation/etc."

As for the cult comment, it's ridiculous. You might as well call all black people a cult because they support Obama overwhelmingly - as well as evangelicals due to their support for Huckabee.

I think the clear indication from the numbers is that people in Utah understand the LDS religion more on a general scale than probably anywhere else. Virtually all Utahans, whether LDS or not, have Mormon friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. They've witnessed first-hand the influence of the religion on people and the interaction of the Church with the government. While many others fear what they don't know, those in Utah (as well as, to a lesser extent, those in Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, etc.) know and don't fear.

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Bidirectional Concerns of Influence by VnutZ :: NR8

Unfortunately, my Windoze machine rebooted and the comment I had was lost to the electronic ether. So ...

I think the issue being questioned is whether or not this behavior will be bidirectional. I will begin by saying a rational person would assume that in a fair and secular election, a vote is not influenced by an insidious sermon (by any faith) declaring, "Thou shalt cast they vote for Romney ... let us sing." Furthermore, a rational person would therefor conclude a vote is cast purely on the political basis of the candidate.

Now, casting a little reality on our rational person gives us "lazy" people. I agree with you in that a person without knowledge of the issues or the full details upon which a candiate has based a platform will act in simplified terms. Who is "most like me" because the simple conclusion is that like minded people have similar interests and therefore I am represented somewhat accurately. No disagreement there.

Given the 90% vote for Romney in the state for which he has no political presence, it would seem obvious that your assessment is correct. But is it TOO correct?

Could that also mean that Utahans are actually choosing blindly to alternative candidates? 90% almost borders on the incredible 100% democratic votes for Saddam Hussein and 99.3% of Chechnyans voting for Vladmir Putin. So the bidirectional question is whether or not the like minded Mormon influence also means that a hypothetically elected Romney would lead the nation as a Mormon or as a secular leader who happens to be Mormon.

Posted 06 February 2008, Hide, Parent, Reply