How and When Do we Have A Discussion of the Mormon Factor and the GOP?

Afew years back Bobby Jindal ran against Blanco for Governor of Louisiana. He nearly won. I supported Bobby Jindal in that race. As everyone knows 4 years after he ran the first time he was successful.

However after that race there was a annoying myth that got so repeated it became fact. That is basically Bobby Jindal lost because of Bigoted Redneck yahoos in North Louisiana were racist.

Now the people that spread this gospel were a tad more coy about their phrasing. However that was the gist of it. In fact it became so believed that the Louisiana Democrat Party based a anti Catholic campaign against Jindal in North Louisiana. All based that apparently on this myth. It of coursed backfired in a magnificant way

Now for years I did the lonely crusade againt this view. I went through the numbers of the election campaign and showed that this "racism" theory was highly unlikely to explain his loss. However it was repeated enough to that people believed it was fact.

Currently there are a ton of newspapers article, blog entries, etc that basically are trying to say that Mitt Romney lost the election because he was Mormon. Or that Huckabee ran a "anti Mormon" campaign. Combined with this is a real sense of hurt by Mormons of what they percieve to be anti Mormon bias.

It gets more complicated because often the people that are viewed to be biased are Southern Evangelicals. Now the fact that Romney had considerable support in parts of the South goes un commented on. The fact that anti Mormon Bias is never attributed to his losses in the North East or his huges loss in California but only to the Suuth and Iowa is getting annoying.

Is there anti Mormon Bias? Sure. But after a year of being on the ground in this campaignit was far far less than I expected. That should be a positive.

The problem is this. Several Mormons have told me that I should let the issue lie. That it is indeed hurtful and perhaps we would be better off not discussing it. The fact that we are trying to unite the party comes into play. Because to point out other factors why Romeny lost can be seen to be beating up on him.

I think there are some hurt feelings on all sides and a lot of misunderstandings. That goes for Mormon and yes even for Evangelicals and other non Mormons Christians that all seem to be lumped together.

I do think there needs to be a discussion on issues of if anti Mormonism played a factor, was Huckabee anti Mormon or not, did perhaps the Romney campaign political consultants use charges of anti Momonism to cover their own mistakes. What really went on. I think as a party we and as people that shall common values we need to do that.

We need to ask the questions such as "Is it ok for a non Mormon to say he is for Christian principles or a Christian leader if he running agains t a person of the Mormon Faith?" It appears to do so is to be declared antio Mormon. What ground rules shall we have in the future on issues such as this? I think this is a discussion that needs to be had.

However can we have it now? Can we have it while we are trying to unite? IF we don't have it now will perceptions becomes facts even though they might not be. Just as they became in the 2000 Louisiana Governor's race.

ALl tough questions. I do know that there is a lot of Mormon hurt out there that must be discussed in a calm rational way on both sides. But how and when to do it? Perhaps the truth is in the middle. Perhaps I am very wrong and the people that proclaim vast anti Mormonism are right? But right now I am not seeing much of rational discussion on it anywhere.