Many voters say they would never vote for Mormon president

On November 20, The Salt Lake Tribune posted an article titled “Many voters say they would never vote for Mormon president”. From the article:

Some 43 percent of Americans wouldn’t even consider voting for a Mormon for president, according to a new poll that shows an increase from previous surveys in the number of voters unwilling to support an LDS candidate for the White House.

In a Public Forum Letter submitted to the paper, Ted Evans from Salt Lake City issued the following statement about the misleading article:

The recent article, “Many voters say they would never vote for Mormon president,” by Thomas Burr, is misleading.

If you allow for the 3 percent sampling error, this poll says that roughly the same number of voters (i.e., about 40 percent) would vote for a Mormon as would not, with about 20 percent undecided.

In addition, my personal guesstimate is that a large number of those who said they would not vote for a Mormon are liberal Democrats who would not vote for a conservative like Mitt Romney anyway, even if he were a traditional Protestant or Catholic. And with about 20 percent undecided, that leaves Romney with plenty of mathematical room to get a majority by November 2008.

This is a good example of deciding whether the glass is half full or half empty, especially since the poll showed only a 5 percent difference between those who would and would not vote for a Mormon.

To contact the author of the original article, Thomas Burr, you may email him or contact the Salt Lake Tribune directly.