3 articles on LDS members political party preference

 Karl Marx's favorite epigram was "de omnibus disputandum," or, "everything must be doubted." Similarly, one of the strongest messages from the Book of Mormon is: "[It] must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things." Unarguably, the need for open dialogue about issues affecting our society benefit from the doubting and opposition of the dialectical process. Opposition to popular wisdom yields great perspective and great results.

What happens if the doubt and the opposition lack any audible voice? You get politics in Utah-a virtually one-party state where the only differences of opinion that matter are those within the ruling majority.

The morning of Nov. 8 made this point clear, when the results of this year's elections rolled in. During a forum that morning at the Hinckley Institute of Politics, U political science professor and pollster Dan Jones noted that in exit surveys, 55 percent of voters identified themselves as Republican and a mere 20 percent said they were Democrats. What's more, Jones highlighted the change in the percentages over the last few years. Three years ago, the same exit surveys showed a ratio of 41 percent Republican to 20 percent Democrat.

What instigated the increase in Utahns' affiliation with the Republican majority? According to Brigham Young University Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences David Magleby, who is also a Democrat, it has a lot to do with the interplay of the GOP with the state's predominant religion. His research reveals that 82.5 percent of active LDS voters affiliate themselves with the Republican majority.

Four and a half years ago, the Salt Lake Tribune interviewed Marlin Jensen of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jensen, a life-long Democrat, spoke to the issue of one-sided politics. Referring to Chris Cannon's unopposed run for the U.S. House of Representatives, Jensen said, "Surely there's got to be another good and wise man or woman out there who could have taken him on. And he would have benefitted from it as well as everyone else."

 Of course, the quagmire in all of this is the mythical statement made by Ezra Taft Benson before he was President of the LDS Church. Legend goes that he commented that it is difficult to be a good member of the LDS Church and a Democrat at the same time.

Speaking to that statement, Jensen said, "There have been some awfully good men and women who have, I think, been both and are both today. So I think it would be a very healthy thing for the church-if that notion could be obliterated." Jensen stressed that it was the middle management and not the upper echelons of church leadership that had created the myth of official Republicanism.

Jensen then urged Democrats to run for high-profile offices, suggesting that, "in the beginning maybe the messengers would be a lot more important than the message, if we just had good, credible people who would do that."

That is just what happened this last election season, when Dave Thomas, an LDS bishop, ran the Democratic ticket against Republican and fellow Latter-day Saint Rob Bishop. Thomas' stance on moral issues mirrored the LDS Church's position. Democrats believed Thomas could give Bishop a run for his money. But Bishop won a crushing victory, taking 61 percent of the vote.

LDS Utahns' increasing preference for the Republican Party is ironic. On April 28, 2002, Salt Lake Tribune political pundit Paul Rolly wrote that Utah's Republican Party "is further apart from official stands of the LDS Church than the Democrats." He continued on to say that many of the Republican office holders interviewed for his column "agreed with that premise."

Consider the GOP right-wing's support for a ban on all abortions. The LDS Church actually allows exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in danger. Although the national Democratic Party platform conflicts with these teachings, many Utah Democrats fall right in line with them. Dave Thomas and Jim Matheson are both pro-life, but support rape, incest and life of the mother exceptions.

 The GOP also believes in an absolute interpretation of the Second Amendment. However, the LDS Church has publicly announced that guns are "inappropriate" in churches and schools. Furthermore, M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told the Salt Lake Tribune that he was concerned over a Utah law that allows clergy to prohibit concealed weapons in churches under the condition that they first inform gun owners. Ballard said, "Isn't it an awful thing that we are in a time in society where you have to put up a sign in a church stating that you have to leave your guns out?"

What about alcohol and tobacco? In 2000, the Utah GOP received 104,000 from alcohol and tobacco-related industries; Utah Democrats received 33,300 and have since refused anymore contributions from the tobacco industry.

In another irony, Utah has named Jell-O its state snack. What most Utahns don't know is that Jell-O is a subsidiary of Phillip Morris, one the world's largest tobacco companies!

Utahns' love for the Republican Party is puzzling. The LDS Church has repeatedly encouraged its members to be open-minded in their party affiliation, and the Utah Democratic Party is often closer ideologically to the church than the GOP.

So why are Utahns increasing their affiliation with the Republican Party? You tell me.

Daniel welcomes feedback at dthatcher@chronicle.utah.edu. Send letters to the editor to letters@chronicle.utah.edu.