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As Romney prepares speech, poll shows bias against Mormons

Unfortunately, I don't think Mitt is going to be able to turn around anyone's prejudices. Is that fair ... no. As much as I have liked Mitt, I don't see him overcoming overcoming the bias. Given that, I'm supporting Huckabee. The rest of the field leaves a lot to be desired and I have no interest in seeing Hillary become President. That would be the REAL disaster.

Wow! And to think that 97.9% of all Americans don't care what religion Mitt Romney is and most Evangelical Conservatives won't vote for Mitt anyways because he was a liberal public official.

Keep religion out of this! Mitt's religion has nothing to do with the disdain of the voters.

Apathy does not equal "bias". Nobody cares about the Romney's religion... George, Lenore, or Mitt.

The bias is against Willard, NOT mormons.

Unfortunately not much has really changed in 160 years

That survey only polled 1200 people. Do you really think that it's accurate to say those opinions match that of the other 300 million people in this country? How many people in this state are voting for him just because he is mormon? Isn't that biased against the other candidates? I mean let's be fair here. The only people that care if he's mormon are mormons. It seems they constantly want to play the "we're being persecuted" card so they continue to make a big deal out of it. 50% of those surveyed didn't even know he was mormon. Give me a break.

Clearly the bias against people of faith shows up in the media. The fact is many good people in public elective office are driven to do and say certain things by their handlers. My feeling is that Mitt's record as the Governor of Massachussets has not been truthfully and fully given to us by the media, nor have they given us the unvarnished truth on any of Mitt's republican competitors. We are left to judge the relative merits of each candidate for ourselves, and dig out the truth on our own. Let's wait to hear from Mitt as he speaks on Thursday. I for one am supporting Mitt based on the current knowledge available. He is principled and has republican core values.

Perhaps one should look at this as an excellent opportunity for Mormons and the LDS church to get beyond the longstanding persecution complex. Mormons are now in the big league and need to act like responsible leaders. They need to reach out and embrace diversity; reach out and understand and empathize with the position of the other side. They need to move beyond an "Us vs Them" mentality. Its a big step. I wonder if Mormons are ready?

It seems that this research�or at least the reporting of it�doesn�t do enough to distinguish the biasness of the Evangelicals from the non-Evangelicals. I would think that among the non-Evangelicals, Romney�s Mormonism is a quaint thing that they might like to hear a pat answer to, and otherwise won't consider an issue.

But trying to explain to Evangelicals that it is perfectly ok to vote for a Mormon would be like explaining to them that it is perfectly ok to vote for a Muslim or an atheist or a gay. Their bigotry is deep, and barring a repudiation of his faith, I doubt there is much Romney could say, other than �vote for me because I�m the lesser of two evils.� He can�t tell them to leave religion out of it, because their desire to put religion into it is the reason they vote.

The irony of Mormons wanting to be political bedfellows with these characters is classic.

Tricky situation.

When the Supreme Court came down with the decision of no prayer at football games, my LDS cousins had e-mails flying everywhere, saying they were taking God out of schools and how wrong it was.

I sent them all a copy of the case. It was filed by a Catholic mother and an LDS mother.

People don't realize how deep the Christian Right Wing's hatred of Mormons run.

My 4 year old daughter was not even considered for acceptance to a "Christian Academy" in So. Cal. because we were LDS, my Catholic buddy's daughter, same thing.

My other buddy doesn't go to any church, and his daughter, no problem.

It's a big hurdle, and bigot's don't privately care if you label them a bigot, they know they are.

Tricky.

Mitt Supporter:

You misunderstand the situation. The huge bias that Romney needs to overcome is the biasness *of* people of faith. People without faith are rare and tend to be liberals anyway. The ones who are the most biased are the ones with the most faith: the evanglical christians. It isn't the media's fault they are that way; it is their religion's fault.

I believe that the Bible belt may be the only area that is biased enough against mormons to matter, because it is so religious. One speach isn't going to change that, any good it does there will be undone by making less religious people spiteful that religion is even raised as a key issue.

If Mitt Romney was an Evangelical Christian, no Conservative Republican would vote for him either. The bias isn't against people of faith. The bias is against liberal politicians.

These people aren't upset about Romney's religion (Christianity), it's the church he is a member of they don't like. So it's his church, not his religion he's defending/explaining tomorrow. Hopefully he includes many things this article suggests he should address and how. Focus on the common ground between the LDS Church and other Christian faiths only rather than delving into "we're Christian too".

You show your lack of education by disbelieving that sample size. Anyone with a statistical background will tell you that is a huge sample size with very good accuracy, it matters more how they did their sampling and other protocole. But it is is to debunk something you do not understand or are biased against(such as stats, mormons, romney, etc.)

Hillary's worst nightmare -- Mitt Romney hits a home run tomorrow and goes on to win the Republican nomination.

Well Paperboy, it is easy to see that you don't even see what you are saying. "Mormons" and the LDS church are one in the same. You said Mormons "and" the LDS Church. I am not a member of that faith but at least I understand that they are the same. And it is brutally obvious that you have never even looked into what the LDS church does to promote diversity and acceptance of anyone no matter what their faith. You are merely quoting what you have heard others say or you could not make such irrational statements. Why don't you actually research their faith. Sheesh!!!!!

Paperboy, I have to agree with Amazed. You have never researched their faith. Not being a member of the LDS church, we as true Christians accept that they are allowed to worship how they see fit. The confusion between the "LDS Church" and "Mormons is nothing new. There was mayor of a small town in the south that held a news conference after hurricane Katrina devastated his town. He said " I want to thank all of the volunteers, especially the LDS church and especially the Mormons for their help". And that churches persecution is a matter of historical fact. In the early history of the church it was sometimes them against everyone else, but it has not been that way for the past 130-140 years or so. Your ignorance of the true nature of their faith, whether you believe it or not. is showing.

Those that have commented that there is no Mormon bias are just wrong. Read the political blogs for any Romney column or topic and the religious intolerence is incredible.

I believe the survey is pretty accurate.

I found the fact that only 50% of the survey knew he was Mormon. I would be interested in seeing the bias of the 50%, though. I do think that as has been said by many analysts that the biggest obstacle is misunderstanding. Of course there is a bias against Mormons. I am one. Then again, there are those who will vote for him just because he is (which also shows igorance on our part voting for him being Mormon, per se).
If you have lived anywhere outside of Utah you will know that just being different can create bias, but not a huge bias. Many didn't know what his faith was, many don't know what it is. Here's his chance to educate those who care. It can help alot. On the other hand... I hope we do the same (LDS Members) looking at all possible candidates to vote for even those who are Democrats.

This article is so poorly written than I have NO idea what information it's attempting to share with the readers.