Here we go…
Let the Mormon bashing begin.
In an apparent push poll, a research firm has called Iowa Republicans this week praising John McCain and critcizing Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith.
An individual in Manchester, Iowa, contacted me on Wednesday night saying he received a call with information about McCain’s military service and anti-spending record.
Then there were “lots of negatives on Romney,” said the recepient of the call in an e-mail, including mentions of his “flip-flops,” hiring illegal immigrants as landscapers and extensive discussion of Mormonism.
“Statements were on baptizing the dead, the Book of Mormon being on the level of the Bible, and one about equating it to a cult,” said the Iowan, deeming them “common criticisms of Mormonism.”
“I think they asked twice if being a Mormon would be an issue,” this person added.
Here’s what a push poll is:
A push poll is a political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll. In a push poll, large numbers of respondents are contacted, and little or no effort is made to collect and analyze response data.
Now, who is behind this? McCain?
McCain’s campaign, which has fielded calls into their Iowa headquarters complaining of similar such calls, emphatically denies responsibility.
“Senator McCain strongly rejects this style of campaigning and we have absolutely no involvement whatsover,” said Jon Seaton, McCain’s top aide in Iowa.
And then the plot thickens:
Another McCain source, however, said tonight that the calls had been traced back to a number linked to the Tarrance Group — Rudy Giuliani’s pollster.
Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella said their campaign has “absolutely nothing to do with this.”
5 Responses to “Here we go…”
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I know that we should all turn the other cheek, but I’m ready to roll up my sleeves for the sake of truth and common sense.
Chris Matthews was my hero for a few moments when on his program the other night someone started mentioning some of the non-mainstream Christian things involved in Mormon theology and something about how these things may be brought up, etc…. Matthews countered by asking if it was appropriate to also quiz a catholic candidate on transubstantiation.
This strategist countered back saying that those things were established so long ago, as if transubstantiation was a thing of the past and Mormonism was so recent.
Matthews interrupted to clarify that the doctrine of transubstantiation comes into play weekly. (oh snap!)
I might add that 1830 is pretty recent compared to the Catholic faith, but compared to other protestant churches…?
My point is, this is a classic case of tradition. People like familiar things without really thinking about them or comparing them with things they dismiss as strange.
Any serious inquiry and desire to understand Mormon theology or, more importantly, Mormon lifestyles will no doubt in my mind result in a favorable or at worst tolerant opinion. If you’re chuckling to yourself, reread the last sentence, especially the word “serious.” Mormon doctrine presented out of context, like many religious doctrines from any number of faiths sound bizarre.
As Romney put it when quizzed on “strange” LDS beliefs he quipped that his strangest belief was that thousands of years ago a man named Noah built an Ark and put all the animals of the earth on it to save them from a world wide flood.
at times like these, i enjoy reading great responses by people who take the time to respond to the jerks.
here are a couple. the first is recent, the second is older:
at hot air then type [ctrl] + [F] + [vanceone] (looking for comments by a user named “vanceone”).
at mormanity i enjoyed the comments by daniel peterson.
Great post, Travis! I’m not surprised about the Giuliani thing. His greatest threat is Romney, whereas McCain would be wiser to muscle in for a VP nod which he wouldn’t do by taking shots at the two top nominees.
Apparently it’s happening in NH, too:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111600605.html?hpid=sec-religion
[…] Romney was targeted by weird anti-Mormon calls that I mentioned before. […]