Blog 5: Political Identity

With the presidential election coming upon us, there is a question being raised more this time than perhaps ever before. That question is whether political identity is prominent here in the United States. This time around it is focusing mainly on whether political identity will cause the majority of the LDS population to vote for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama. The answer may lie within the numbers themselves. In June of this year Utah Data Points conducted a survey where they asked “Utah voters whether they have a favorable or unfavorable impression of Mitt Romney”. The results of that survey show that “A higher proportion of Utah Democrats have a favorable impression of Mitt Romney (23%) than the approval of Utah Republicans of Barack Obama’s job performance (5%)” (Monson). When focusing solely on LDS Utah Democrats that number rises to 42% compared to 16% favorability from other religious groups and 19% from non-religious voters (Monson). Why is there such a large gap between those sets of numbers?

Primordialism is most likely the best reason to explain why so many LDS members plan to vote for Mitt Romney compared to previous Republican candidates. Clifford Geertz, the famous American anthropologist stated that a primordial attachment is “One that stems from the 'givens' or, more precisely, as culture is inevitably involved in such matters, the assumed 'givens' of social existence: immediate continguity and kin connection mainly, but beyond them the givenness that stems from being born into a particular religious community, speaking a particular language, or even a dialect of a language, and following particular social practices. These congruities of blood, speech, custom and so on, are seen to have an ineffable, and at times overpowering coerciveness in and of themselves” (Geertz). In that comment it mentions that primordialism can stem from being born into a particular religious community. Does that mean that LDS members feel a natural connection to Mitt Romney due to the fact that he is of the same faith? 
The same question became very popular when Barack Obama was running for the presidential office in 2008. Many of the same people who will vote for Romney for the fact that he is LDS questioned whether African-Americans would vote for Obama in 2008 because he  was of the same race. So what happens if you are a African-American LDS member? In May of this year an article was posted in the New York Times that focused on this issue. Jerri Harwell, one of the several interviewees, was asked who she would vote for in this coming election and why. The article states that Ms. Harwell quickly informed the interviewer that she would be voting for President Obama and she stated the reason why by saying, “The religion is very much a part of me, but I was born black and I will die black” (Saulny). 
During the class lecture it was mentioned that a political identity is seen as a loyalty. Are there LDS members who will simply vote for Romney because he is a member as well? It is very likely that many LDS members will disagree with Romney on certain topics but will push those to the side because of their shared faith with Romney. Where does this loyalty come from? The church remains completely separate from political parties. The church does not tell the members that they must vote for Romney in order to have a good standing within the church. Many LDS members perhaps feel that he shares the same set of core beliefs and therefore will implement the same policies that they believe should be in place.
In general there tends to be a LDS political identity throughout the United States. It is not a result of church leaders promoting this identity but rather members creating themselves. That identity does become less visible when other political identities come into the fray such as race and social distinction. This presidential election has in a way both made the LDS political identity stronger with a LDS member running for candidacy but also has split that identity into many different sections. LDS members in Utah are perhaps more likely to vote for Mitt Romney since they have been surrounded by other members their whole lives where as a LDS members from New York or California may think otherwise since they live amongst people that are generally from other faiths and have varying mindsets. 

Works Cited

Monson, Quin. "Do LDS Dems like Mitt Romney?" Utah Data Points, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://utahdatapoints.com/2012/08/do-lds-dems-like-mitt-romney/>.

Geertz, Clifford. The Integrative Revolution: Primordial Sentiments and Civil Politics in the New States. , 1961. Print.

Saulny, Susan. "For Black Mormons, a Political Choice Like No Other." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 May 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/us/for-black-mormons-a-political-choice-like-no-other.html?pagewanted=all>.