Mitt Romney for President My Man Mitt: Look for this story from the Washington Post: "Mormon Iowans: A Force for Romney"

Alec MacGillis, a journalist for the Washington Post has been contacting several Iowans who support Romney. In his intitial contact to me he stated he was "trying to gauge the level and nature of support for Mitt Romney around the country, particularly in early primary and caucus states."

As we spoke on the phone, his questions quickly moved to how the LDS community here is responding to Romney and to what level we are "organizing" for Romney. He asked about BYU alumni chapters that might be here and if that's a form of networking for Romney. He asked if there were "coffee groups" (he quickly retracted that one) or anything similar where LDS frequently get together in a non-church system. My answers were that there is no LDS network for Romney . . . at least, not in the way that his probing questions were leading. I told him how apolitical our church is and how I've never even seen a "voting guide" anywhere near our churches. I re-affirmed the church's stance/policy about not endorsing candidates, parties, or platforms and that all LDS know that neither the pulpit nor church membership lists (with contact info) are not to be used for political purposes etc . . .

I gave him the names of a few LDS and non-LDS Iowan grassroots Romney supporters as well including Jim Kirkpatrick (Waverly, IA) and Joni Scotter (Cedar Rapids, IA). Well, looks like Alec contacted the LDS people I mentioned but NONE of the non-LDS people I mentioned. That seemed odd, but what was even odder was that at least three other LDS Iowans (all BYU grads) that I hadn't mentioned ended up being contacted by Alec as well. I'm guessing that Alec "Googled" "U.Iowa and BYU" and found these people this way. I can only surmise from all this that Alec really isn't trying to objectively "gauge the level and nature of support for Mitt Romney" like he stated . . . he's more than likely preparing a "Early State Mormons: A Force for Romney" story, the kind of agenda-driven journalism aimed at creating a generalized distrust of Romney because of the "VAST MORMON CONSPIRACY" to get one of your own elected President.

Keep your eyes out for this story and refer back to this then.

Jeff Fuller


	6 Comments: Jeff- I heard a director of one of the BYU alumni chapters in California got a similar call a couple of weeks ago. They're clearly trying to manufacture a conspiracy,. By Anonymous, at March 14, 2007 at 6:35 AM It would be a safe and accurate approach to surmise that MacGillis is writing yet another hit piece and will grasp at any straws Mitt's Mormon supporters will give him in order to spin the "Mormon conspiracy theory" This post should stand as a lesson and huge warning to ANY Mitt supporter who also happens to be Mormon, or be familiar with the efforts of LDS "Mittheads." LDS tend to be a trusting people, and drive by media hitmen like MacGillis are very good at what they do. They will call and be as friendly as possible, asking questions in the most seemingly innocuous way possible, hoping to lure the interviewee into making statements that can be twisted in the worst ways. When dealing with any member of the MSM and/or liberal media, Mittsters should assume that they have the worst, unfriendliest of intentions, regardless of how harmless they may present themselves. By Anonymous, at March 14, 2007 at 10:00 AM It is really an unfortunate state of affairs but as someone who has been misquoted and misrepresented in the media in the past, the only sane approach is caution. And so what if it is discovered that a lot of Mormons have favorable views of Romney. That doesn't mean anything. Romney surely has high name recognition amongst Mormons. I bet if you dug, you would find that many Mormons watched more of the SLC olympics than any other olympics because they were interested in how the games would go being in the same city as the headquarters of their church. Of course they know who Romney is and they like him for saving the olympics among other things. Nothing odd about that. By Anonymous, at March 14, 2007 at 3:06 PM Actually, as a mormon (not from utah), I can say that most of those I know didn't know who Mitt Romney was until this election season, and even then only those that are paying attention the the elections this early on (which isn't a large percentage). Those in utah or New England may have a different experience, but people who are not mormon might be suprised to know that his name recognition isn't necessarily high among LDS. By IZ, at March 14, 2007 at 6:12 PM Surely higher than the general population though. By Anonymous, at March 14, 2007 at 10:43 PM Yes, timotheus, I would agree, especially at this stage. It will balance out as we near the first primaries though. By IZ, at March 15, 2007 at 11:00 AM Post a Comment