if mitt is to win in 2012

the bright side of mitt no longer being in the presidential race is three fold 1) work no longer feels like a distraction from the responsibilities associated with closely following the election 2) craig, mary and parker can hang out and 3) i have time to shower again. but the downsides are real and far outweigh the upsides. for starters, i genuinely felt mitt was a superior candidate given his track record and values and i truly thought he’d be an exceptional president. second, he screamed leadership. davis said it correctly when he observed during one of the final debates that it seemed like a debate between one president (romney) and three congressmen (paul, huckabee and mccain). finally, there is a part of me (and i’m guessing i’m not alone in the mormon community) that wanted mitt to become president because him being president could bring instant normalcy to the lds religion and help further its cause. but it wasn’t meant to be. at least not this go-around.

the chatter of mitt running in 2012 is encouraging. i hope he does. lately i’ve been thinking about what would be different. i’ve read what the pundits have said: that the reasons he lost was because a) he didn’t connect with the general public b) he flipped-flopped and c) he’s mormon. mitt will have to take care of a), i think most people will get over b), but i’m not so sure about c). for some reason the mormon thing is a real sticking point. just prior to mitt dropping out of the race i had a business lunch with a co-worker and two ladies that i had just met. we instantly broke the business world rule of not talking about politics by discussing our preferred candidates. one of the ladies was surprised to learn that i was a mitt supporter. she had a hard time with mitt because of his “non-mainstream religion.” this caught me off guard. i thought this sentiment was confined to the south, but we were lunching in philadelphia.

as i've thought of that experience in the context of mitt running for president in 2012, i’ve considered the ways in which this issue of mitt being a mormon could be marginalized or modified so that it doesn’t negatively affect his chances. there is the possibility that, generally speaking, people will become more open minded and accepting of mitt’s religion or judge him based on his qualifications and not his beliefs. but, as most mormons recognize, the quicker way to change people’s perceptions of mormons is through mormons. or stated differently, the way in which we interact with our friends who are not lds will more quickly change their perception of our religion.

so the logical solution would seem to be that more mormons should move away from utah and less mormons should move back to utah so that there are a greater number of lds people interacting with non-lds people. however, i’ve realized that just living outside utah isn’t enough, and the unfortunate reality, at least in my experience, is that most mormons who do live outside utah spend about as much time with non-mormons (not counting at work) as they would if they were living inside utah. and while work associations help to modify perceptions, it’s the friendships that are created after hours that truly bring down the walls of religious suspicion. but these friendships are often never formed because we, as mormons, often find the hand of fellowship from someone inside the church easier, more natural or comfortable than from someone outside. consequently, we end up passing on opportunities to develop meaningful relationships with people who could deepen our respect and understanding of other religions and cultures while helping them to do the same with ours.

so if we are going to change the perception of the general public of mormons, we'll need to reach out of the social cocoon in which most of us are entwined and develop relationships with those who are not of our faith. oh. and once we’re outside the cocoon it’s important for us to remember to act normal.