Mormon Politicians
Reid's religion not an issue in Senate
By Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
11/23/2006
Washington - The day after it was clear the Democrats would rule the U.S. Senate, President Bush invited its top two leaders to the White House for conversation and coffee.
It's a good bet that Sen. Harry Reid didn't partake of the latter.
The Nevada Democrat, a faithful Mormon, won't touch coffee, tea or alcohol.
"He doesn't even drink soda. I'm sure it was orange juice" Reid sipped during the presidential chat, joked Tessa Hafen, Reid's former spokeswoman.
It's a small but important detail to note for Reid, who was elected last week to lead the Senate when Democrats take over in January.
He'll assume the role of majority leader and take his place in history as the highest-ranking elected Mormon in U.S. history.
Observers say that shows that Mormonism, long a religion seen outside Utah as peculiar, is becoming more mainstream.
"It's an important symbol," says John Green, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. "That has always been a mark of religious groups in American society, that in some important sense the group has become part of the mainstream."
Mormons already hold several key positions in Washington. Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt is secretary of Health and Human Services; two federal departments have Mormon chiefs of staff; and five senators and about a dozen representatives are Latter-day Saints.
But Reid has gone further than any of them.
Born in a small mining town in Nevada, Reid now attends services at a ward house a block outside the District of Columbia every Sunday he is in town. He always finishes his home teaching - where members check on a few families to ensure they're well - and once taught a Gospel doctrine class. There's a copy of the Book of Mormon on his office bookshelf.
"He's always looking after other people," says his bishop, Michael Seay, the lay leader of his ward. "He's very much loved by the members."
And while he doesn't push issues simply because of his faith, friends say Reid's religion and his stands as a senator are inseparable. Reid, the father of five boys, is anti-abortion and pro-death- penalty and opposes same-sex marriage and gun control. But he's no Republican-lite; he takes liberal-to-moderate stands on issues such as education.
"His faith clearly affects who he is," says Kai Anderson, Reid's former deputy chief of staff. "It's a big part of what makes him a decent, kind, loving man. But he doesn't legislate it."
Unlike many other Mormon politicians, Reid is not often identified by his religion. Many news outlets across the country noted his faith only after he was elected majority leader. It does not appear to be an issue in the Senate.
"It's a historical milestone that I'm sure LDS scholars will note," says Sen. Bob Bennett, a Mormon Republican from Utah. "Interestingly, in the Senate no one seems to care."
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wasn't aware that Reid would be the highest-ranking elected Mormon, and it didn't seem to matter to him.
"Religion is not a factor," Obama says. "Obviously, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have risen to the heights in business and government - look at Orrin Hatch, for example - so, in some ways, it's not considered particularly newsworthy."
Same for Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who noted that Reid is a Mormon, Majority Whip-elect Richard Durbin is a Catholic and Charles Schumer, head of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, is Jewish.
"Religion is becoming less and less significant in everybody's mind," Leahy says. "I have never ever once heard anybody - in Harry's presence or not - mention anything about his religion."
More important to the Democrats, with their narrow majority, is Reid's propensity for negotiation and compromise.
While he'll throw bombs when necessary, "One thing about him is he is balanced, prudent and very easy to work with," says William Nixon, a Washington lobbyist, former Hill staffer and an LDS stake president. "He is the example that the Democratic Party is not going to allow itself to be co-opted by the far left."
Reid calls Iraq war 'worst foreign policy blunder' in U.S. history
By
Tad Walch
Deseret Morning News
October 9, 2007
PROVO — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 "the worst foreign policy blunder in our country's history" during a speech Tuesday at Brigham Young University.
A substantial portion of the 4,091 students, faculty, staff and visitors at the Marriott Center for the University Forum applauded Reid's statement. An equal number then applauded when he gave equal time to the other side: "Some say this war of choice was our only reasonable alternative."
The senator from Nevada's wide-ranging, well-received talk covered his rise from an impoverished childhood and the constant questions about his membership in the Democrat Party and in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"It is not uncommon for members of the church to ask how I can be a Mormon and a Democrat," he said. "Some of you have wondered, too, huh?"
Reid said the Republican majority among church members is simply cyclical. "Democrats have not always been in the minority, and I believe we won't be for too long."
Reid believes his faith informs his politics. "I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it," he said.
He discussed his faith, bearing testimony of his belief in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon and the prophethood of both church founder Joseph Smith and LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley.
He also described his and his family's faithfulness, noting that all five of his children attended BYU and married in LDS temples. The three boys served LDS missions.
"Prayer has always been an important part of my adult life," he said.
Abortion is a major reason many LDS turn to Republican circles, but Reid called himself is proof someone can be pro-life and a Democrat, and said he has been so through 25 years in Congress.
Calling his position as leader of Senate Democrats "the world's best job," he declined to take sides in the Democratic presidential primary.
What about fellow Mormon Mitt Romney, who is running for the Republican nomination?
"I hope that Mitt Romney's presidential bid is determined by his political stands, and not his religion," Reid said, drawing applause from the majority of the audience.
Reid spent the first half of his 40-minute speech describing his journey from an underprivileged, non-religious childhood in tiny Searchlight, Nev., to his position as the highest-ranking Mormon in American government.
Reid and his wife Landra joined the LDS Church while students at Utah State University. The Reids now have 16 grandchildren.
Reid said his hero is Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
"Social security is the most successful social program in the history of the world," he said. "Roosevelt tackled the greatest economic crisis we ever had with the three Rs: relief, recovery and reform. And let's not forget, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the commander-in-chief of the greatest military ever assembled at a time of great crisis in the world."
Reid credited unions with creating the 40-hour work week, decent wages for workers and safe working conditions. He called global warming an environmental emergency.
At the end of his speech, Reid earned a standing ovation from a small percentage of the crowd and grateful applause from the rest.
"I was impressed with him," said Stacie Borneman, a 22-year-old political science major from Farmington who said she is a Republican. "I thought he did a good job expressing his feelings and our responsibility to serve in our communities."
There were no organized protests of Reid's visit and no protest signs. One person did walk out between the end of Reid's speech and the traditional closing prayer and called out that students should not be deceived by Reid.
"It's good to hear differing opinions and to be respectful even if you don't agree politically," Borneman said, "and he gave both sides of the issues he raised."
Reid encouraged students to give public service and told them the American dream is alive.
His father was a hard-rock miner. To make ends meet, his mother took in laundry from the town's 13 brothels.
"I learned in America, it doesn't matter the education of your parents, what their religion is or isn't, their social status — we had none — the color of their skin or their economic status.
"I am an example of this. If I made it, anyone can."
Reid speaks out against past Mormon leaders
Reno Gazette Journal
10/11/2007
PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Mormons were ill-served by the conservative politics of past church leaders.
The Nevada Democrat, who is Mormon, specifically named Ezra Taft Benson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 to May 1994 and U.S. agriculture secretary during the Eisenhower administration.
"Members of the church are obedient and followers in the true sense of the word, but these people have taken members of the church down the path that is the wrong path," Reid told reporters Tuesday after speaking at church-owned Brigham Young University.
Reid said he joined the church at age 19.
"My faith and political beliefs are deeply intertwined. I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it," he told more than 4,000 people at BYU's Marriott Center.
The LDS religion is the dominant faith in Utah, the world headquarters of the LDS church. Utah also is among the most conservative states, regularly supporting Republican candidates for president.
Vice President Dick Cheney gave the commencement speech last spring at BYU.
The church said it does not endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms. Spokeswoman Kim Farah said the church had no comment on Reid's remarks.
Mitt Romney, a Mormon, has found Utah to be a fertile place to raise money for his GOP presidential run. He was in charge of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
Reid said voters who like Romney should be influenced "by his political stands and not his religion."
He said Mormons must recognize there are more important issues than abortion and gay marriage. Reid opposes abortion.
"We have a country that needs to do something about health care. Global warming is here. We have a president who doesn't know how to pronounce the words," Reid told reporters, referring to President Bush.
Mr. Neels is an HNN intern.
January 8, 2008
In a classic comparison of
father and son, one of many in American political history, Mitt Romney
(Republican hopeful for the 2008 election) has experienced a campaign remarkably
different from his father’s, George Romney, some forty years ago.
The 1968 presidential campaign was one of those elections that make the
textbooks. Coming at the high water mark of the Vietnam War, and following on
the revelation by President Lyndon Johnson that he would not seek another term
in office, the stakes were certainly high and the list of possible candidates
was limitless.
Joining George Romney, names dropped for possible nomination by the Republican
Party included former Vice President Richard M. Nixon and California Governor
Ronald Reagan. For the Democratic Party, hopefuls included New York Senator
Robert F. Kennedy and current Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
Romney’s role in the election was short but memorable. A former chairman of
American Motors from 1954 to 1962, Romney had risen in the ranks of the
Republican Party, winning three consecutive terms as governor of Michigan before
declaring his run for the White House. A late 1967 poll ranked him as the number
one candidate among moderate Republicans. And although his religious affiliation
was well known, it played virtually no role in his candidacy.
Rather, during the time of his candidacy a much larger issue for the Romney
campaign was whether or not Romney, born to American parents in Chihuahua,
Mexico could be classified as a naturally born citizen – a stipulation that
applies only to those seeking the presidency. However, this issue also took a
back seat to a more crucial one – one that would ultimately cause him the race.
All signs suggest that Romney’s future pointed in no other direction than up.
But, following a televised comment that attributed his support for the Vietnam
War to “brainwashing by the U.S. military” Romney’s campaign became
enshrouded in an escalating controversy that dropped his ratings in the polls
and caused him to finally concede the race shortly before the 1968 New Hampshire
primary.
In an interview later in life, Romney insisted that his comments regarding
Vietnam had nothing to do with his bowing out. Rather, he attributed the true
nature of his concession to Nelson Rockefeller joining the race. Between
Rockefeller and Nixon, Romney stated he had no chance. Whatever the cause of the
demise of his career historians and journalists agree that his life-long
membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a non-issue in
those early days of the 1968 race.
The 1968 campaign may not have been about religion, but the 1960 campaign
certainly was. The questions regarding the influence of the Pope on a potential
Catholic president weighed heavily on the minds of many Protestant voters and
prompted JFK to make a speech regarding the influence of his faith on his
possible presidency. By 1968 the Vietnam War and the social changes of the 1960s
seemed far more important to the electorate than a candidate's religion.
In regards to questions of Mitt’s religious loyalty, Senator Ted Kennedy has
said, “that issue died with my brother, Jack.” But headlines that say quips such
as, “Does Romney’s Mormonism Matter?” “Romney’s Evangelical Problem,” and “Will
Faith Hurt Bid for the White House?” make it clear that the issue is very much
alive in modern-day American politics.
And though he was never questioned during the campaign on his faith, George
Romney’s political career, and his life as a whole, was certainly influenced by
his faith. In December of 1968, just following Romney’s appointment as Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development by president-elect Richard Nixon, a New York
Times article stated that Romney “sees himself bringing the idealism of his
Mormon religion to business and politics in general.” Still, it is to be noted
that clips such as this usually noted Romney’s religion as an advantage to his
position, not a weakness, and did not spring up until after he had left the
race.
Mitt Romney simply does not have the luxury of avoiding the topic of religion
like his father did because religion has become such an influential part of our
public debates, whereas it was almost nonexistent in the political realm of the
‘60s. Certainly religion played a prominent role in the 2000, 2002, and 2004
elections, as Kevin Coe and David Domke demonstrated in an
article published on HNN a few weeks ago. Almost certainly religion will
continue to play an outsized role.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Transcripts of 1996 meetings involving the governor at the time discussing how to incorporate Mormon principles into policy will remain available to the public because the talks involved state business, an official said Monday.
Mike Leavitt, now U.S. secretary of health and human services, had asked the Utah State Archives to review the transcripts' classification after they were obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune and the subject of a story Sunday.
The documents are transcripts of "Early Morning Seminary" meetings involving Leavitt, staff members and others at the governor's mansion.
Meetings opened with a prayer, followed by stories from the Book of Mormon and discussion of how the lessons could apply to government.
Leavitt had argued that some people at the meetings expressed beliefs that were personal or "even sacred." But archivist Patricia Smith-Mansfield said the records appear to involve state business and will remain accessible.
During one session, Leavitt and others talked about King Benjamin, who in the Book of Mormon encourages people to serve one another. Leavitt said the king's era would be a "prime one to look at" when studying the success of civilizations.
Senator Smith's marriage remarks raise questions for opponent
Jeff Merkley's camp wonders whether the senator defended polygamy when speaking of persecuted Mormon ancestors in regards to gay marriage
Saturday, June 14, 2008
HARRY ESTEVE
The Oregonian Staff
U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith caused a political stir this week when he linked the raging debate over same-sex marriage to persecution of his Mormon ancestors -- a comparison that his Democratic opponent said amounts to a defense of polygamy.
During a gay-rights panel discussion earlier this week at the Center for American Progress, Smith, a Republican, was asked about his views on same-sex marriage. What followed was a lengthy, deeply personal response, including comments about his Mormon ancestry.
"Part of what I fear, as you start defining marriage -- we have a long history of doing that in this country, and my Mormon pioneer ancestors were the victims of that," Smith said. "They were literally driven from the United States in the dead of winter for following their religious beliefs. I don't want that coming back."
Smith prefaced his comments with, "My campaign people will kill me for saying this, but . . ." which quickly caught the attention of Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley, Smith's Democratic opponent in the November election.
"We're not certain what he is saying," said a Merkley spokesman, Matt Canter. "It appears he is defending polygamy and believes it was wrong for the government to establish a definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. But Sen. Smith will need to clarify his remarks."
Smith has supported a federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. In a statement to The Oregonian on Friday, Smith said: "I have been a strong proponent of gay rights -- such as domestic partner benefits, ENDA (anti-discrimination laws) and stronger prosecution of hate crimes," Smith said, "but I oppose changes in the current definition of marriage. I regret using a clumsy historical analogy to make that point."
He did not respond directly to Merkley's charge that he was defending polygamy. Early Mormonism was associated with plural marriages with more than one wife, a practice the church later rejected and no longer condones.
In the past, Smith has said his Mormon background helped him empathize with victims of discrimination, saying he knows what it's like to be in a minority and have people make assumptions.
In his response during the panel discussion, Smith said he voted for the federal marriage definition because "I didn't want federal judges to impose it on other states that were voting differently."
He went on to say that changing the definition of marriage has broad implications that go beyond the gay and lesbian community. "What I'm telling you from the bottom of my heart is I'm trying to do the best I can without creating a much bigger problem," Smith said.
Canter called Smith's statement and response part of a pattern. "This has happened a number of times now. Smith says something very confusing that offends people and then backpedals when the press starts asking questions."