US Voters Would Support Female or African-American Presidential Candidates, but.....

[AuntieEmma[$]]

frazzledspice said

AARP Bulletin published a poll on this subject--with separate results for all Americans and over-50 Americans.

And the results?

Americans are ready for a woman President.
Americans are ready for an African-American President.
But only 33% of over 50's, and 31% of all Americans, feel America is ready for a LDS President.

AARP Bulletin: The Bulletin Poll: U.S. Presidents

There's another poll that just came out where people weren't as negative towards the idea of a Mormon president as they were in the AARP poll. (Since both polls, I think, are pretty recent, the difference may have been due to the way that the questions were worded.)

In this poll, while support for a Mormon president was below that for a Black, Jewish, female, or Hispanic president, it was still 72%, which while not great, is still a lot better than the showing in the AARP poll.

Coming in below Mormons were candidates who had been married three times, candidates who were older than 72, homosexuals, and coming in dead last (as reflected in the discussion in this thread) were atheists.

Asked if they'd be willing to vote for a "generally well-qualified" candidate with the following characteristics, here's how the tally went in the Feb. 9- 11 poll.

Black 94%
Jewish 92%
A woman 88%
Hispanic 87%
Mormon 72%
Married for third time 67%
72 years of age 57%
A homosexual 55%
An atheist 45%

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/..._id=1003547514

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Galluppoll.com analysis with the exact wording of the questions. The big difference - "Is America ready" vs. "Would you vote for." Personally, I would vote for a gay president, but I can't say I think America as a whole is ready for a gay president - too many people would have their boxers in a knot.

[rmthunter]

The problem is, any gay presidential candidate would have to be married, just to give some sense of being a responsible, stable person.

Talk about Catch 22.

[erik_kosberg]

At least we had no problem electing a power-mad sociopath with delusions of competence. It's nice to know that some minority groups aren't seen as unelectable.

[realtraveller]

We've already had a gay president. James Buchanan. The president just before Lincoln. Course, it was really don't ask, don't tell back in those days.

[realtraveller]

Come to think of it, it's just as ridiculous to vote for someone simply because that candidate is black, female, Mormon, Catholic, Jewish or whatever. But candidates sort of bank on that. Hillary is banking on the women's vote. Obama is counting on the black vote.

It would be interesting to see a poll of people asking whether they would vote for a candidate because he/she was a woman, black, Mormon.gay etc. and whether that would be seen as bigoted.

It seems to me that you can't have it both ways.

[erik_kosberg]

Obama is counting on the black vote.

ANY Democrat would count on getting a minimum of 80% of the black vote, more likely something on the order of 90%.

[rmthunter]

realtraveller said

We've already had a gay president. James Buchanan. The president just before Lincoln. Course, it was really don't ask, don't tell back in those days.

It was more like "Don't Ask, Nobody Cares."

[rmthunter]

How about voting for someone because you agree with most of his/her stated positions on the issues?

Of course, then you run into someone like McRomliani.

[realtraveller]

rmthunter said

How about voting for someone because you agree with most of his/her stated positions on the issues?

Well, that would be the rational thing to do, wouldn't it.

But it would take all the fun out of deciding who has more 'charisma', who made the most gaffes, and who has the best hair.

[hadassahchana[$]]

I'm just so disgusted by this remark by Al Sharpton.

"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation," Sharpton said Monday during a debate with Hitchens at the New York Public Library's Beaux-Arts headquarters.

I wonder how long it would take him to express outrage if someone were to make a similar comment about making sure a black candidate were defeated? That would be disgusting, too, mind you, but for someone who is quick to point out racism, I find this even more appalling.

[wivabef]

hadassahchana said

I'm just so disgusted by this remark by Al Sharpton.






I wonder how long it would take him to express outrage if someone were to make a similar comment about making sure a black candidate were defeated? That would be disgusting, too, mind you, but for someone who is quick to point out racism, I find this even more appalling.

I'm feeling a little dense because I'm trying to figure out how his alibi for why this wasn't an attack on Romney works. He says he was referring to an atheist author but I still don't get how that makes it any better. He is still referring to the fact that "those who really believe in God" would somehow be against Romney.

[realtraveller]

Does this mean that like Don Imus, we won't be hearing or seeing the Rev Al anymore on TV? Please, oh, please.

[brian_igo]

For whatever it is worth, Robertson's CBN website lists the LDS on a page titled "How Do I Recognize a Cult?"

Practically every cult has certain characteristics that can tell the careful observer that something is wrong.

For instance, what does a group think about Jesus? Jesus Christ is God, Lord of all, the only source of salvation. Invariably, a cult will put something else on an equal footing with Christ. It will have a ritual that is equal to Christ, or it will have a doctrine equal to Christ, or it will have a leader who is equal to Christ. In other words, even if it acknowledges Christ as Savior, it will say that you need something else before you can get into heaven. Cults teach that salvation comes through Christ, plus their little unique way. Some cults do not acknowledge Christ at all. They may make Him coequal with their religious teachers or with certain great men of history. The quickest way to recognize a cult is by its treatment of Jesus.

Second, cults frequently attempt to instill fear into their followers. The followers are taught constantly that salvation comes only through the cult. "If you leave us, you will lose your salvation," they say.

The third area has to do with the exaltation of the leader of the cult. Cults often center around a man or woman who is trying to gain power, money, or influence from manipulating people. This appears to be the case in the Unification church with Sun Myung Moon. In the Children of God, Moses David Berg is an autocratic leader. In the People's Temple, Jim Jones drew attention to himself and asked his followers to die with him. A true leader who serves Jesus Christ has one goal, and that is to exalt and manifest Jesus. When someone says he has unique insight into God or is the special one that God has anointed to reach the world, you are dealing with cultic behavior.

A final mark of a cult is the unwillingness of the leaders to let the people grow up. A true shepherd will do everything he can to bring Christian people to maturity as quickly as he can. He will not seek to avoid necessary teaching, nor will he try to keep people from maturity. Many cults perpetuate spiritual dependence so that their followers lose the ability to make independent, rational decisions. Often techniques of brainwashing are used to create robotlike behavior.

Although there are other marks of cultic behavior, these seem to be the ones that stand out.

---

WHAT DO MORMONS BELIEVE?
Mormons are some of the most exemplary human beings, especially in regard to their behavior patterns and their adherence to the fundamental values of our society. But their religious beliefs are, to put is simply, wrong. They believe that an angel named Moroni left some gold tablets in upstate New York and that these tablets were discovered by a man named Joseph Smith. From these tablets, Joseph Smith "translated" the Book of Mormon, which is the foundation upon which Mormonism is built. Mormons also consider two other books, Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price, to be divinely inspired.

Mormonism differs from biblical Christianity in several areas. Mormons do not believe, for example, that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Mormons must work their way to heaven. (B. R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City:1958), p. 191.)

Mormonism teaches that God is not the only deity and that we all have the potential of becoming gods. (Ibid., p. 576.) (Remember that Satan's fall came about because he wanted to be like God.) God, according to Mormons, is not just Spirit but has "a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man's." (Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22.) They teach, "As we are, he was. As he is, we shall become." (Joseph Smith, "The King Follett Discourse," p. 9.) There has been constant revision of Mormon doctrine over the years, as church leaders have changed their minds on a number of subjects including polygamy, which was once sanctioned by the church.

In summary, the Mormon church is a prosperous, growing organization that has produced many people of exemplary character. But when it comes to spiritual matters, the Mormons are far from the truth.

[mtomm[$]]

Classic misrepresentation. FWIW.

I did like this though:

In summary, the Mormon church is a prosperous, growing organization that has produced many people of exemplary character.

But basically I think Brian's post means if Romney was running a good campaign he start handling the matter of religion like JFK did. Squelch it now because it is NOT helping him.

Edit to add that CBN never refers to the Church by its proper name. I think that tells you something.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Practically every cult has certain characteristics that can tell the careful observer that something is wrong.

For instance, what does a group think about Jesus? Jesus Christ is God, Lord of all, the only source of salvation. Invariably, a cult will put something else on an equal footing with Christ. It will have a ritual that is equal to Christ, or it will have a doctrine equal to Christ, or it will have a leader who is equal to Christ. In other words, even if it acknowledges Christ as Savior, it will say that you need something else before you can get into heaven. Cults teach that salvation comes through Christ, plus their little unique way. Some cults do not acknowledge Christ at all. They may make Him coequal with their religious teachers or with certain great men of history. The quickest way to recognize a cult is by its treatment of Jesus.

It can (and has) been argued that the way Christians treat and think about Jesus makes *them* a cult because they put someone on a par with God. Funny to see the treatment of Jesus used as the way to IDENTIFY a cult!

[drmomentum[$]]

Edit to add that CBN never refers to the Church by its proper name. I think that tells you something.

"Cult" is basically just an insulting way of referring to a religion that is not your own. So, he's already starting out on a bad foot.

I don't remember who it was , but someone once said something about this:

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?

-JP

[erik_kosberg]

Sharpton denied he was questioning the Mormon's own belief in God.

Rather, the New York Democrat said he was contrasting himself with Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author he was debating at the time.

Not sure what all the fuss is about. Christians of various persuasions will hand Romney a defeat, atheists and agnostics will have little input into who wins the GOP nomination. Yawn.

[hadassahchana[$]]

After reading it again, I don't see how it wasn't a slur. Unless it was just another one of those joke things that seem to be so popular these days. The ones whi