There have been plenty of previous polls on the same subject, but for some reason the one in a recent issue of Newsweek struck a chord with me.

I think it was because in addition to gauging whether America would vote for a Mormon for president, this poll also set out to gauge whether America would vote for a woman, a Hispanic or a black. It was a barometer on bigotry.

The motive behind such polls, of course, is to assess the respective presidential chances of Mitt Romney, a Mormon; Hillary Clinton, a woman; Bill Richardson, a Hispanic, and Barack Obama, a black, in the upcoming 2008 race.

But I decided to take this one personally.

The Newsweek poll showed that if you want to be president — and while it's still no walk in the park — it's actually better to be a black person (30 percent of those polled believe America won't vote for someone who is black), a woman (32 percent think America won't support a woman candidate) or Hispanic (47 percent) than it is to be Mormon.

Forty-eight percent of those polled think America won't vote for a Mormon. Period.

I've never been a woman, Hispanic or black, but I am a Mormon.

My father was a Mormon. His father was a ... wait, his father wasn't a Mormon. Adolph Bengtsson's parents and brothers and sisters all joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden in the 1800s, but Adolph didn't. He died before I was born, but I get the impression Adolph was a bit of a rebel. He emigrated to America as a teenager, followed his family to Utah and after too many people butchered the spelling of his last name shortened it to Benson, relegating his descendants to a lifetime of answering "no" to the question: Are you related to Ezra Taft Benson?

My dad became a Mormon after he married my mom, who was Mormon, which should help explain, notwithstanding "agency" and all the rest, my religious persuasion.

Anyway, that's my background and now I learn that because of it my chances of becoming president hover somewhere between fat, slim and none.

If the 52 percent who don't care whether I'm Mormon all voted for me, I'd barely win. But I can't even count on that since the Newsweek poll reported that only 35 percent think America definitely WOULD vote for a Mormon. The remaining 17 percent haven't yet made up their minds.

Luckily, I don't want to be president. Your life is never your own. You live on a crowded street in a house you don't own that people are constantly parading through. No matter what decision you make, half of the country thinks you're wrong. You're going to be out of work in eight years. Tops. Watching Leno and Letterman isn't any fun anymore. And you have to deal with the media.

Although I would like to ride in the helicopter and be able to call down to the kitchen at any hour and say, make me a bacon and tomato sandwich.

I just think it's a shame that anyone, myself included, should be considered unfit for the White House based on religion, race or gender. That hurts. That is not the American ideal. Don't vote for me because of me, but let's leave where I go to church out of it.

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Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.