Posted on 02/04/2012 6:53:17 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Very, very good e-mail lists — and an internal debate over whether to use them. “I'm getting really tired of the ads for Romney campaign trips coming from this list serve,” writes one young Mormon.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- At Mitt Romney’s first rally here earlier this week, there were plenty of hints that the enthusiastic crowd of 1,000 was stacked with Mormons. Kids walked around in BYU sweatshirts, moms chatted about LDS youth groups, and at least one supporter was overheard talking about making phone calls for the candidate as part of "family home evening" -- a weekly family night the church encourages its members to hold.
But while it's no secret that Romney's coreligionists have swelled the ranks at campaign stops from Des Moines to Reno, one question about the Mormon vote has gone largely unanswered this primary season: How, exactly, have they gotten so organized?
"We heard about it from some friends in our [LDS] ward," said one woman standing outside a rally held in a Las Vegas hotel supply warehouse. "We're so glad we could make it." Another Mormon standing nearby chimed in, "Everyone we know is voting for Mitt!"
The secret to the grassroots success lies, in part, in the unique national structure and scrupulous record-keeping of the Utah-headquartered Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the church itself is politically neutral, it contains the structural groundwork for one of the most organized and effective voting blocs in the country—something Romney is poised to capitalize on.
Here’s how it works
In contrast with most other religions in the country, the Mormon Church is nationally organized in a strict, top-down fashion, like a corporation. Every congregation in the U.S. reports back to church headquarters in Salt Lake. Whenever an individual is baptized -- either as a child or as a convert -- local ministers take down the person’s name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, and feed the information into a national database maintained by officials in Salt Lake (and only accessible to certain church leaders).
From there, the individuals are assigned to geographically-determined congregations -- or “wards” -- of about 200-300, which they attend on Sundays. Their contact information is filtered into a local “ward list,” which is distributed to all local congregants for planning purposes--from coordinating Sunday school, to working out the logistics for church barbeques.
For decades, these ward lists were printed out and distributed after Sunday services, but in recent years the system has migrated online to LDS.org, where Mormons create logins to access the contact information for every fellow believer in the area.
For active Mormons, wards often become the center of their social universe: it’s not uncommon for members to visit their local chapels three or four times a week for various activities and meetings. Additionally, Mormons participate in “home and visiting teaching” programs, which require them to visit certain ward members on a monthly basis. In this context, ward lists become invaluable tools for Mormons’ daily life—inevitably finding their way into Google groups, listservs, and cell phones.
They also frequently become political tools.
Working the wards
The church expressly forbids using these directories for non-religious purposes, but that doesn’t deter many politically active Mormons from working their ward lists to get out the vote. Reports abound of members blasting out congregational e-mails soliciting support for partisan causes and candidates. One Southern California ward received several e-mails urging congregants to vote for an LDS politician running for local office. And in nastier example of the practice, ward lists in Alpine, Utah were used to spread an anonymous smear campaign against a candidate on the eve of a local election.
Several Mormons told BuzzFeed that as the 2012 primaries heated up, they started to see their fellow congregants use ward lists to organize local efforts for Romney.
Here in Nevada, Ryan Erwin, a consultant for the Romney campaign, acknowledged that the candidate has benefitted from grassroots efforts by Latter-day Saints, and said the campaign is proud of their support. But he also thinks the Mormon factor has been overstated.
“Mormons make up seven percent of the population here,” Erwin said. “If you read some of the reports in the media, you’d think it was 90 percent… it’s a little aggravating when you’ve worked for months to build up an organization and then they say, ‘Well, he just won it because he’s a Mormon.’”
That said, exit polls in 2008 showed that about 25 percent of Nevada caucus-goers self-identified as Mormon -- and Romney won that primary handily. This time around, polling indicates that he’s headed for a similarly dominant victory, and if it happens, local Latter-day Saints will no doubt deserve a chunk of the credit.
Much like how Iowa’s Christian home-school vote advanced its own grassroots efforts for Mike Huckabee largely independently of his campaign, there’s no evidence that Team Romney is officially coordinating with Mormon congregations. But anecdotal evidence suggests that a highly motivated base of Mormon supporters has effectively taken advantage of the LDS infrastructure to help Romney.
The Colonial First Ward listserv
One of the most illustrative examples is the Colonial First Ward listserv, which consists of more than 3,500 D.C.-area Mormons, many of them young and single.
E-mails obtained by BuzzFeed show the listserv being used frequently as a recruiting tool for Romney supporters -- gathering signatures to get the candidate on the Delaware ballot, requesting volunteers to aid the campaign’s Illinois operation, and organizing a get-out-the-vote trip to South Carolina on the weekend of the primary.
The fruits of that last effort were obvious on the ground in Columbia, S.C., where dozens of young Mormon students from Virginia and D.C. were found rallying for Romney at various campaign stops.
But not everyone on the listserv has looked kindly upon efforts to transform the network into a booster club for Romney, and a number of members have e-mailed complaints.
Matt Larsen, a member of the listserv, wrote last October: “I know I’m probably going to make enemies here, but I’m getting really tired of the ads for Romney campaign trips coming from this list serve. The disclaimer at the bottom of every list serve email states very clearly: ‘Items that will not be posted/that will be removed include: promoting your business, promoting political ideologies, and inflammatory comments and rhetoric.’”
The protests appear to have been ignored though, with members continuing to send out e-mails as recently as last month that requested volunteer help for Romney.
“The Colonial First Ward listserv seems to be a miraculous pro-Romney organizing tool,” grumbled one D.C.-area Mormon, who is a Democrat. “Whenever you get the contact information for 3,540 young Mormons in one place, I guess it has to be.”
About scripture, yes.
Sigh...
Keep making your sly innuendoes, your little digs, your little accusations all you want; but haven’t you noticed I don’t do defense against BASELESS charges??
Call me DISHONEST all you want; but the jury would probably like to see the evidence. Evidence other than, “It’s over THERE!”
A person's 'religion' is as useful as a mouthful of warm spit (nice bible reference) if it does NOT feel that it's better than everyone else's and want to ADVANCE it's cause.
I'd rather have a Rabid Muslim than a Stealthy MORMON.
“Keep making your sly innuendoes”
No, it is not sly, nor is it innuendo. It is dishonest in your post #457 to post two statements (and not even the full statement) from two different posts, and then attempt to link them together as you did to concoct a contradiction.
What would you call it?
“we will not be silenced”
That’s entirely up to you. Of course I never said you should not avail yourself of your rights, but you are debating me as if I did.
“It is obvious to the causal observer than you guys are on different wave lengths: he on VOTING ‘rights’, and you on RUNNING ‘rights’.”
Yes - you posted an evolution of their debate. I said run for office - THEY changed after being caught in extra-Constitutional positions.
Just like you - presented with evidence that you are being dishonest, given a chance to retract, you go ALL IN to the lie you just told.
You’re just like a spoiled teenaged girl. For crying out loud - just admit the obvious. retract your stupid fabrication and we can move on.
I won’t even hold it against you.
Aye; there's the rub!
YOU are the one who typed the SECOND, in rely to the FIRST.
And now you are trying to blame ME for your words?
Isn't it about time for you to declare VICTORY! and leave the field of battle?
One, the higher, above it all coolness, (Nothing personal)
the other the namecalling (your friends are full of it).
Nothing 'dishonest' or concocted about it at all.
“And now you are trying to blame ME for your words?”
Please. Where am I doing this?
I merely pointed out that I haven’t evolved my argument as the others have.
You however, are distinguishing yourself for being particularly disingenuous.
The Mormons you are so against will eat this thread up and wrap it around you in a neat package.
And you know what? They’ll be entirely right to do so as you are being so ridiculously, so provably slippery.
Come on, just retract and apologize and let’s move on.
and you assume wrongly, because in a cult, this is one of the first parts of your individuality they take away
how else do you explain 93% mormons polling for Romney in his 2008 bid, and in Idaho right now 98% of those self identified as Mormon exit polled for Romney
i'm past expecting any real contribution from either of you...this is for the thousands of others who read this...
i don't know about you guys, but when i google "exmormon" FreeRepublic shows up on page one of my results now...i guess people are paying attention
post so they can read it in the cheap seats...lol
Oh?
THEY did, eh?
Then let's see the evidence, as it WILL be held against you if it fails to appear.
“457 shows PERFECTLY the two sides of your face, “
Unfortunately you quoted from two separate posts, on two separate subjects, one of which was you being off-topic to the discussion of the moment.
There you are, ALL IN on a stupid, provable deception.
Bring it!
Their critical thinking skills have been shown to be, shall we say, a bit limited.
When you, the gaggle, vote as individuals - pull the lever for whomever you want for whatever reason you wish.
____________________________________________
We do and will...RomneyBot
but we will still wont be voting for Willie Mitty...
I have , you lack understanding on what the constitution actually states - displayed again and again.
verily i say unto thee, when Godzilla speaketh, thou shalt listeneth
all japanese monster movies were of and by Him, without Godzilla were none of them created
even in the valley of the shadow of death, you shall fear no darkness, you’ll fear his radioactive breath lightin yo azz up
Godzilla!
Amazing. To paraphrase Forrest Gump, sometimes there are too many rocks...
Brava!!!!!
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