Marco’s Mormon Moment

The big news right now for everyone with a “Mormon” Google alert is that Sen. Marco Rubio has made it very clear the “Mormon vote” is important to him, especially in Nevada.

As Politico reports, Rubio might be able to turn his brief stint as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into “his early-state ace in the hole.” Mormons in Nevada, Politico’s Elena Schneider points out, are an important voting bloc. Many of the elected officials there, past and present, are members of the LDS Church, and so one way Rubio knows he can distinguish himself from the swath of other Republicans in the primaries is his connection to Mormonism. 

Schneider writes:

Rubio’s ability to win over LDS voters could go a long way in the first state to vote in the West, where Mormons represent roughly a quarter of caucus-goers, according to 2012 entrance polls. Mitt Romney won by a landslide margin among them — 88 percent — on his way to winning 50 percent statewide. While no one expects Rubio to come anywhere close to Romney’s support — Romney would have been the nation’s first Mormon president — any advantage could prove decisive in Nevada’s low-turnout caucuses.

 

But as The National Review also noted recently, Rubio isn’t the only one developing a Mormon strategy. Jeb! is also working hard to get his hands on some Mormon support.

Alexis Levinson writes:

Rubio and Bush, in particular, seem to recognize the advantage [the Mormon vote in Nevada] could offer them. They have been making overtures to Mormon leaders, and matching each other point for point in rolling out endorsements from high-profile LDS public officials.

In related news, there is still no word as to whether or not Rubio is receiving regular visits from his home teachers.