In an interview with Politico‘s Mike Allen, Jim Messina, the 2012 Obama campaign’s manager, revealed that his team believed that former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who also served as President Obama’s Ambassador to China, would likely have been a tougher general election opponent than Mitt Romney. “Um, hmm, that’s a good question,” Messina said when Allen […]

As Wisconsin Congressman and Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan had dinner with wealthy donors and spoke to local students in the new Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah, a small group of Libertarian protesters had their say on the sidewalk outside the event. One man wore a dollar bill taped over his mouth and […]

Mitt Romney has asked fellow Mormon Kenneth Hutchins, a retired Massachussetts police officer, to give the invocation at the Republican party’s national convention, which begins August 27 in Tampa, Florida. When Romney was a Mormon stake president in the 1980s, Hutchins was his counselor in Boston. After Romney was released from the church position to […]

Bloomberg Businessweek released an early mock-up for the cover of its next issue which will feature the cover story, “Latter-day Lucre: How the Mormon Church Makes Its Billions,” by Caroline Winter. The article itself, which has been online since Tuesday, seems relatively balanced and non-controversial, and the online version is simply titled, “How the Mormons […]

Yesterday Corner Drug in Driggs, Idaho posted this photo to their Facebook page with the following caption: We have had a couple of distinguished visitors to the soda fountain this week. This gentlemen enjoyed his Lime Freeze from Corner Drug. Hope the fishing on the river was equally as good! In about 18 hours the […]

(Photo from Deseret Book.) President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was invited to throw the first pitch at the Las Angeles Dodgers game this past Friday for the stadium’s popular “Mormon Night.” The ceremonial pitch was caught by a local Area Seventy […]

By J. Stuart.  Today, June 27, marks the 168th anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Mormon prophet. Discussing the legacy and meaning of the martyrdom–which has been eloquently and fiercely debated since 1844–isn’t my aim today, although you can read D&C 135 for the canonized account of the martyrdom (that the account of […]

Yesterday after days of rumors, BYU’s Maxwell Institute was rocked when it was announced director Gerald Bradford had fired BYU professor Daniel C. Peterson as the editor of the Mormon Studies Review, previously named the FARMS Review, which Peterson had founded twenty-three years ago. Peterson’s associate editors were also fired, some reportedly without notice. The publication has since […]

After rumors circulated earlier in the week, BYU’s Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship confirmed today that Daniel C. Peterson and his associate editors would be removed from the staff of the Mormon Studies Review, previously the FARMS Review.  The periodical, which publishes articles and reviews on LDS-related topics and books, was founded by Peterson 23 years ago. Along […]

The arguments for picking Rubio as a running-mate were always very obvious: he’s young, fiery, and an energetic speaker. He’s extremely popular with Republicans and the Tea Party. He’s Latino and he’s from an important swing state. On paper he seemed to be the perfect add-on for a Republican ticket, and especially a Republican ticket […]