A Mormon Mission... For Romney?

(The New Republic)  This column was written by Noam Scheiber.

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It took the political pros a year to decide that Mitt Romney's religion would be a disaster for his presidential prospects. It took them all of two days to revise that view. On April 1, the Romney campaign announced it had raised $21 million in the first quarter of 2007, a spectacular sum for any Republican candidate, much less an obscure Northeastern governor. By midweek, the press was chalking it up to the power of Romney's Mormon connections. "Residents of Utah, the center of the Mormon Church, contributed about 15 percent of the total contributions, more per capita than any other state," observed The New York Times. The lead to a Washington Post story slobbered over a two-day trip through Mormon enclaves that netted the governor more than $1 million.

There's no question that the enthusiasm of affluent Mormons is a huge boost for Romney. The former Massachusetts governor could not have solidified his first-tier status without his impressive fund-raising haul, and the haul would not have happened without his Mormon base. But as the Romney campaign never hesitates to point out, this kind of advantage is hardly unheard of in presidential politics. Michael Dukakis tapped the wallets of affluent Greek-Americans in 1988; Joe Lieberman benefited from outsize Jewish donations in 2004.

Romney's Mormonism does, however, confer at least one truly unprecedented advantage — one that could be decisive in a closely contested primary. It derives from an aspect of the Mormon community that the press has largely underplayed: the vast grassroots organizing potential of thousands of highly-disciplined young missionaries.

The recent history of presidential primaries has not been kind to campaigns that are overly dependent on youthful energy. Most notoriously, Howard Dean spent hundreds of thousands of dollars bringing 3,500 volunteers to Iowa from across the country — the so-called "Perfect Storm" — then proceeded to finish a distant third in the state's caucuses. Many on-the-ground observers speculated that the brightly-dyed hair and copious body piercings of Dean's Perfect Storm-ers might have alienated average Iowans. But even if that weren't the case, the Dean campaign was clearly ill-served by its activists' incompetence. Months before the voting, according to an account in The Atlantic, campaign manager Joe Trippi complained to colleagues that, "You need a person running each county who is in that county, no matter how small it is. ... This campaign has a bunch of kids in regional headquarters that never go out into the counties."

If, by contrast, Romney decides to engineer his own perfect storm, the young volunteers will almost certainly be clean-cut, God-fearing, respectful of authority ... and extremely well-versed in the art of grassroots persuasion. Although the Mormon Church has no formal connection to the Romney campaign (for that matter, it has an explicit policy of avoiding political activity), the two-year mission Mormons undertake after high school turns out to be unusually good training for political field work.

The Mormon Church is somewhat vague with the details of missions, so I've relied on two Mormon sources to get a sense of how the process works. (Some of the particulars may have changed since they served in the 1990s, but the broad thrust should be the same.) The typical mission begins with a three-week training course at the aptly named Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah. There, the Mormons receive a crash course on the missionary lifestyle and the rudiments of spreading the good word.

Arguably the most important skill they acquire in this regard is how to get in the door, and the trainees hone this skill through extensive role-playing. For example, they are taught to search for common ground with potential converts — everything from their taste in cars or pets to their religious worldview. "Take the belief in Jesus Christ," says one of the former missionaries. "We might have different beliefs about Him, but most people do believe in some sort of Supreme Being, they have ideas about that. You build on that, go from there." It's not so different from the way a canvasser might seek a connection with a voter over, say, a shared interest in the environment.

There are roughly 100 regional missions in the United States (out of about 340 worldwide), each of which is divided into several zones of about 20 missionaries, with each zone subdivided into three or four districts. Upon arriving at his or her mission, a young Mormon will meet with the mission president — usually a respected member of the Mormon community called to serve a three-year term — who assigns the missionary to a district. Once there, he or she will be paired with a more experienced partner — called a "companion" — who functions as an on-the-job trainer.

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[hplcmaster]

Thanks for the article! As a returned LDS missionary, I thought your portrayal of missionary life was accurate in detail, albeit slightly skewed with respect to purpose, which is excusable for someone who does not share our beliefs. However, you might wish to clarify that Romney's Iowa volunteers would be former, and not current, LDS missionaries. I am sure you meant this, but based on some of the preceeding comments to this article, it appears to be a point of confusion. Thanks again for portraying missionaries as hard-working, dedicated individuals who have strong beliefs and who want to share those beliefs with others. Many people view LDS missionaries as brain-washed slaves; quite the opposite!

[lodmstrong]

Of course LDS missionaries would not be used in any political campaign. The idea is absurd. The LDS, while quite conservative as a whole, have a very strict separation of church and politics. Unfortunately, the repeated comparisions in the article between missions and campaigns leave the reader wondering.

A couple of points of interest: First, LDS missionaries do not choose where they serve. They apply to serve, and then serve wherever they are asked to. Second, these 20-year-old kids pay their own way (as opposed to receiving a stipend). So even if you disagree with their message, from my own experiences with them, we should cut these young folks some slack, as they are trying to do something they think will make a positive difference in the world, and at their own expense of thousands of dollars for two whole years. You've gotta admire that sort of person.

I recently read that Mitt Romney served an LDS mission to France, and so speaks fluent (though probably a bit rusty) French. Having lived there for 2 years, he must still have a great affinity for France and its people, even if he does think that France has lost a bit of its importance in the world. Given that France's new president is relatively pro-American, and with Romney's connections to and affinity for France, imagine how much our relationship with France (and consequently, probably our relationships with Germany and the rest of Europe) would improve with Romney in the White House.

[psteven55]

Mr. Scheiber,

You may want to recheck you sources. You completely misunderstand how the LDS members think. While it's teachings tend to push people to vote on the conservate spectrum in large numbers, Mormons today would be repulsed by the idea of being asked to activley support a particular candidate, Mormon or not. Trust me on this one, I grew up in home with a father that was an active democrat and a stake President (leader over several thousand).

You are correct that a gross roots level, Mormons can have a compelling effect on this campaign and its worth noting but certainly not by the missionaries. Most don't even know who Romney is and they are too busy sharing the gospel to give it much thought.

[psteven55]

Mr. Scheiber,

You may want to recheck you sources. You completely misunderstand how the LDS members think. While it's teachings tend to push people to vote on the conservate spectrum in large numbers, Mormons today would be repulsed by the idea of being asked to activley support a particular candidate, Mormon or not. Trust me on this one, I grew up in home with a father that was an active democrat and a stake President (leader over several thousand).

You are correct that a gross roots level, Mormons can have a compelling effect on this campaign and its worth noting but certainly not by the missionaries. Most don't even know who Romney is and they are too busy sharing the gospel to give it much thought.

[spasimante]

First things first, missionaries are not conscripted for partisan political purposes, ever.

Second, as happens so often with stories about Mitt Romney, the comments degenerate into religion/mormon bashing. Just to dispell any myths, religious belief do not make one a bad president. In fact, probably the best presidents in the history of America were deeply religious (e.g., Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Eisenhower etc. etc. etc.) Just because George Bush has turned out to be a terribly ineffective president doesn't mean religion is to blame.

Now, why don't we judge Romney on his accomplishments. Here are a few: He is intelligent (holds two degrees with high/highest distinction from Harvard); he was an effective governor (took Mass from terrible budget shortfall to economic solvency without raising taxes); he's an incredible businessman (took venture capital company from zero to multi-billions in assets); he's an effective manager (turned around Olympics); he has solid moral values and a beautiful family; best of all, he has no skeletons in his closet. In addition to his past accomplishments, his vision for America is positive an innovative.

Once we stop attacking religion and examine Romney as a politician, we will see he is far superior to the other Republican nominees.

[grumpas]

I don't trust anyone with to much religion anymore. They like to ram it down everyone else's throat! It's one of the most misguided notions on earth to imagine you need religion to be moral! Most Christian's I have seen recently are more immoral than most of us heathens. We know the difference between right and wrong! Most of them don't. So, there is no way I will vote for someone who wears their religion like a scroud.

[Savea]

There is still ignorance, bias, and hatred from some of the comments. The missionaries primary goal are to and spread gospel througout the world whereever their message is welcome. Their has nothing to do with politics nor Romney. The article is misleading and will only confuse or bring more hatred of the LDS church. Why are you there no mentioning of other Mormons in the government like Harry Reid? Some of you still have your heads stuck in the sand. Get up and get out from your comfort corner and study before you make false accusations. Or better yet, fast and pray about it even if it will take you days and months.

[brianbwb-2009]

Mr. Romney is not presidential material. He subscribes to the Church of Corrupt Washington Money. Why else continue to support an illegal war that was started from lies, and make statements that such madness can "succeed" if given more time? None of the candidates from either side has taken up the most important fight that we should be waging, the fight against government corruption, the fight we absolutely must win if we are to exist much longer as a sovereign country.

As for his Mormonism, I have doubts that a religion that teaches that slavery is the will of Noah because he cursed his younger son to be servant to his brethren, and that the third son went to Africa and became "Black" people, can produce a man who is truly aware of the inhumanity of racism.

[billpl-2009]

bostonbb3

tell that to the Boy Scouts of America.

...get your head out of the sand

[bostonbb3]

I have read it all. What a moronic article. I seriously wonder if conspiricy theorists have any business but to sit in a padded room on haldol. The idea that the church would use missionaries to campaign is ludicris if not utterly repulsive. The church is far too busy dealing with its unpresidented growth to worry about a campaign election in only 1 of the 198 countries it has members. It doesn't back Romney, nor any candidate. Who does is plenty of Iowans and New Hampshire residents. Which is really the reason for shoveling this nonsense. You don't really believe what you put in print, its just killing you and all of the rest of the liberal media that Romney is cleaning up in the primary states so you feel justify the means - slandering and lying - to achieve your ends. Where is your integrity? You must really believe the public is stupid to peddle this article worthy of the enquirer.