Maybe Mitt was a poor choice to sell the Mormon brand? Are Mormons really boringly white?
- Even after Mitt Romney lost, Mormon media observers felt that his campaign must have yielded a net positive for public understanding of the Mormon faith.
But new data released by the Pew Forum suggests otherwise.
82% of Americans surveyed by Pew say they learned little to nothing about Mormonism during the 2012 campaign.
Nearly 50% said they still know “little to nothing” about Mormonism, a proportion unchanged from 2011.
And only about 40% could answer two basic factual questions about the faith, a proportion unchanged from 2010.
Marginally fewer non-Mormons characterize Mormons as “very different” from themselves: down from 65% of Americans surveyed to 61%.
Some measurable gains have been made among mainline Protestants: 28% surveyed in 2011 said they have “a lot in common” with Mormons; now, that proportion is 42%.
And when asked to give a one asked to give a one-word descriptor of Mormonism, the number of respondents offering a positive word like “good,” or “honest,” increased from 18% in 2011 to 24% in 2012.
All of these gains were concentrated among Republicans voting for Romney, naturally.
Still, the number one word survey participants associated with Mormons? “Cult.”
And fully 27% of survey respondents still have no idea what religion Mitt Romney is.