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Datum: Freitag, den 8. Oktober 2004, um 22:35 Uhr

Betrifft: Mormonen machen Wahlkampf

Ein Beispiel dafÃ¼r, das Mormonen und Republikaner sich nicht an die verfassungsmÃ¤ÃŸige Trennung von Kirche und Staat halten.

Preaching to the Choir?:
Republican Web site says Kerry wrong for Mormons
Talk of the Morning
By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
WASHINGTON - Either Republicans are worried about losing Utah, or it’s the grand champion in the "Take Nothing for Granted" competition.
The national party has launched a new Web site pointing out why the party believes Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry is a bad choice for Mormons - a demographic so ironclad conservative that 88 percent of them voted for President Bush in 2000.
Members of the LDS Church aren’t the only targeted group. Similar sites lay out why Kerry would be bad for Catholics and bad for Evangelicals. One site makes the argument that he would be bad for Asian Americans.
Officials at the Utah Republican Party were flummoxed that the Republican National Committee was expending the effort on the state’s religious majority.
"We’re not a target state, so to be honest we haven’t got a lot of attention from the RNC," said Kate Bradshaw, Victory 2004 Coordinator for the state party. "The fact that they made a Web site kind of surprises me."
There are large Mormon populations in other states, including southern California and Idaho. The Internet site - www.kerrywrongformormons.com - lays out a point-by-point assault on the Massachusetts senator’s record, outlining his support for abortion rights, civil unions, and a vote against increasing the child tax credit, possibly the coup de gras in a state known for large families.
"I would think that the Mormon church would frown upon this," said Donald Dunn, chairman of the Utah Democratic Party. "They do take efforts to not get involved with a political candidate, and while it says it’s not endorsed by the Mormon church, I certainly think this would be troublesome for them."
The goal, said Tara Wall, spokeswoman for the RNC Outreach Program, is to get information to the party’s grass-roots leaders so they can use it to help convince voters to back Bush.
"We work with these groups and we support these groups and they support us. We believe we have a message that resonates in these groups," Wall said. "Its been our goal to communicate the president’s message to these Republicans so they understand what the president is doing policy-wise and why Kerry is wrong for them."
Dunn also said he was struck by the negativity of the site.
"I think most religious groups would like to look at politics in a positive fashion instead of a negative one and this to me is putting it in a negative light," he said.
None of the Bush sites say why Bush would be right for Mormons or any of the targeted groups. That information is on the president’s campaign Web site, Wall said. "This is an issue that the Bush people think works to their advantage and that is play on the strength of his religious conviction and willingness to talk about it," said University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank.
The sites probably won’t even make a blip in the final outcome, but they can be put up with little commitment of time or money, Burbank said.
"I sincerely doubt that they’re getting a huge number of hits on these Web sites," he said. "What they’re really trying to do is have a presence there."
During the campaign, Kerry has said "that I don’t believe we should raise religion as a matter of political strategy."
Officially, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not support any political party, and the GOP site includes a disclaimer that it is not endorsed by the church.
At the same time, the church encourages its members to become informed and be active in government and the political process. In a 2000 letter, the church’s leaders urged members "to study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully and then vote for those they believe will most nearly carry out their ideas of good government."
Recently, the church’s First Presidency issued a statement supporting an amendment to the Constitution banning same-sex marriage and has joined court fights against gay unions. The church also opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is at risk.

Quelle: Salt Lake Tribune vom 28.9.2004