ShareThisBy THOMAS BURR and PEGGY FLETCHER STACK
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Reports that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's political advisers consulted with the Mormon Church to boost his expected presidential bid could have a "Manchurian candidate" backlash if voters perceive Romney as a church surrogate, a prominent political scientist warns.
Although Romney, a Mormon, would be "crazy" not to tap into the church's network if he jumps into the 2008 White House race, he must be open and aboveboard to avoid fueling conspiracy theories, says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
"If there's a Manchurian candidate being offered here, that's a problem," Sabato said.
The Boston Globe reported Thursday that supporters for Romney and church leaders had proposed building a nationwide network of Mormons, starting with alumni of Brigham Young University, to help advance his likely presidential bid.
The effort was dubbed the Mutual Values and Priorities program _ or MVP, the Globe said. Citing documents, the paper added that Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was made aware of the effort and "expressed no opposition."
The revelation _ while denied as a synchronized campaign by Romney and the church _ again raises the specter that his LDS membership could doom his campaign, especially with evangelical voters essential to winning the GOP nomination.
The article also raised a question about whether any political collaboration may have violated IRS rules against tax-exempt organizations supporting candidates.
Jared Young, a spokesman for Romney's Commonwealth PAC, vehemently denied the PAC is working with the church and said a Sept. 19 meeting between staffers and an LDS official in the church's Salt Lake City headquarters was to ensure there were "parameters" set to avoid any implication the church was backing Romney.
"There is no coordination between Governor Romney's Commonwealth PAC and the church," Young said. "That would be illegal for both parties to do that."
Church spokesman Michael Otterson said the Sept. 19 meeting first reported by the Globe was purely "a handshake and a chat _ literally a courtesy call."
Otterson offered an "emphatic no" to a question of whether Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, a top church governing body, had agreed to help Romney's potential campaign. And he disagreed with the Globe report that Hinckley was aware of any discussion between Romney supporters and Holland.
"To characterize it as 'the effort to help Romney' as if that's a fact is completely wrong," Otterson said in a statement. In meeting with Romney supporters _ including Holland's neighbor and Romney friend Kem Gardner _ "Elder Holland re-emphasized the church's political neutrality rules."
However, the reports of church-campaign coordination could fan anti-Mormon feelings with many evangelical groups, some of whom view the LDS Church as a cult.
"This is just what the Southern Baptists and others need to bash the (LDS) church," said Tony Kimball, a retired professor of American government at Bentley College in the Boston area.
"They are hostile to the church anyway. If they see Mitt's campaign as a Mormon campaign, that's going to drive them into a frenzy," said Kimball, who is Mormon.
The Globe in Thursday's editions reported that Holland suggested using the alumni association of Brigham Young University's business school as the start for a support web across the country. Romney is a graduate of BYU, which is owned by the LDS Church.
Ned Hill, dean of BYU's Marriott School of Management, and Steve Albrecht, an associate dean, sent an e-mail to members of the alumni association from their school accounts seeking volunteers to support Romney's organization, the Globe reported.
BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins says the university did not approve the e-mail and the two have been asked to cease any similar communication in the future. The school has a policy of "political neutrality," she said, noting that an alumnus complained about the initial e-mail.
