EASTERN IDAHO
COUNTIES Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Caribou, Clark, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Power, Teton APPROXIMATE POPULATION 344,351 2006 ELECTION Otter won each county except Bannock and Teton
“THE MORMON CARD”
O
n the morning of Sept. 21, the Allred and Otter campaigns woke up to a minor political tremor. Not enough to crack the foundation, but certainly enough to shake things up. A survey conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research indicated that Southeast Idaho was very much in play. According to the poll, Otter’s margin in Southeast Idaho was only 6 percent over Allred with 13 percent of those questioned saying they were still undecided. David Adler, director of the University of Idaho’s James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy said what many had been thinking. “I think Allred’s religion is one of his niches in this race,” said Adler. A lot of Eastern Idahoans BW spoke to agree, at least privately. With few exceptions, none wanted their names printed, yet almost all said their faith mattered in every part of their lives, including politics. Each was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Each said they were voting for Allred. Allred is a former LDS missionary to Germany, a Sunday school teacher and has twice served as a bishop in the Mormon church. However, Allred did everything but run away from the issue when BW asked him about the importance of his faith. “I hope that no one will vote for me or against me because of my faith,” Allred responded. The most blatant exploitation of faith in the gubernatorial race came on Oct. 6, not from the Allred camp but during two Otter campaign rallies, one in Idaho Falls and another in Boise. Otter wrote a political IOU when one-time presidential hopeful and one of the nation’s most famous Mormons, Mitt Romney parachuted in for some politicking. It wasn’t Romney who took direct aim at fellow Mormon Allred, but rather Idaho Falls multi-millionaire Frank Vandersloot. “Keith Allred has been sending Eastern WWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M
Idaho Mormon’s the message, ‘I’m Mormon so vote for me because I’m one of you guys.’ My answer to that is, well, Harry Reid is a Mormon.” Democratic Sen. and Majority Leader Reid is in the fight for his political life in Nevada. Allred responded cautiously. “It’s unfortunate that Frank Vandersloot wants to use religious and partisan labels to distract people from the actual positions held by the candidates.” A week and a half later, Sharon Parry of Idaho Falls stirred the faith pot once more. Parry knows a thing or two about politics, and a thing or two about Otter. She’s an Idaho Falls Republican who coordinated Otter’s campaign in Bonneville County in 2006. In a guest column in the Idaho Falls’ Post Register, Parry said Allred had been endorsed by Clayton Christensen, a prominent Republican Mormon. The op-ed set off a tornado of blog posts, opinions and personal slams aimed at Parry, Allred and anyone who supported, or for that matter, opposed them. The Post Register’s government reporter Corey Taule even weighed in, writing, “Parry should have known better than to play the Mormon card.” The El Herradero in Pocatello is known by locals as the place to get the most food for the least money. Most lunch hour patrons identified themselves to BW as Republican and members of the LDS faith. And most said they were voting for Allred. “What’s he afraid of?” asked Jacob Lam, a 50-something early retiree. “Allred should just start talking publicly about being Mormon. It’s a good thing.” Meanwhile, Otter hasn’t mentioned Allred’s faith once, at least publicly. As for his own, when BW asked him to explain how his faith informs him, Otter wasn’t shy at all. He replied: “As a Catholic, I turn to my faith often. My faith is most definitely a guiding principle in my work and in my everyday life.”
BOISEweekly | OCTOBER 27 – NOVEMBER 2, 2010 | 17