So, was that then but now is different? One difference is church leaders today are less likely to be openly political than a generation ago. But the First Presidency does want to convey the impression that the Republican Party does not have some special relationship with the church. One example is the fact that a few years ago Elder Marlin Jensen of the Seventy was placed in the spotlight to show that not only could one be a good Mormon and a loyal Democrat, one could be a general authority of the church and a loyal Democrat! Also, President Hinckley stated at the National Press Club a few years ago that members could be loyal Democrats and good members of the church.

Moreover, the church at times has taken positions closer to those held in the platforms of the Democratic Party. For example, while the Republican Party favored allowing people to take their concealed weapon wherever they want, the Democratic Party and the LDS Church's position has been that guns have no place in houses of worship.

Is it the case that the Republican Party always offers people who are worthy of our vote? That is absurd on its face, even without recent scandals involving Republican officeholders.

Again, as members of the LDS Church, we will face the ballot box in a few weeks. Now is the time to decide what will we do — take a few seconds and mindlessly vote a straight party ticket, be it Republican or Democratic — or "study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully."

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Richard Davis is a political science professor at Brigham Young University.