Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah Hinckley Institute of Politics, said "both Republicans and President Bush are faring far worse than Mormons in the country right now."

The top four contenders for the presidency have issues with age, race, gender or religion, he said. "The media is billing this election as one to overcome some prejudice."

Jowers, a longtime Romney supporter, disagrees that the perception of the LDS Church was worse in the past. Political polls over the years show that while the prejudice against a candidate's age, race or gender has diminished, it has stayed about the same for a Mormon candidate, he said.

"I suppose the whole point is what does it mean for Romney," Stark said. "I don't think it's all that bad given that nobody knows him yet."

The Romney campaign did not return telephone calls for comment.

"If we did this in 1961, it would have been twice as bad. No Mormon would have thought of running for president. It's not some guy trying to make it out of Utah. He wouldn't have the same kind of exposure," he said.

Stark placed Romney in the same category as John F. Kennedy, who as a Catholic faced strong opposition in his campaign, prompting him to say he wouldn't move the pope into the White House. Likewise, Stark doesn't see the three-member First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve that preside over the LDS Church getting special access. He supposes Romney could say something like "the Twelve won't have a secret tunnel to the Pentagon."

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