[caption id="attachment_2881" align="alignright" width="300"] Kelly shows support for President Obama in Virginia[/caption]

Post by Joseph M -

Thanksgiving is surely a great time for reflection.  Rob's post, Michael Otterson's guest article in the Washington Post, and this recent post by Joanna Brooks have all caused me to think on this past election season and the part that we Mormons for Obama played in it.  I am thankful for the community of saints who have come together here and the amazing amount of good that we have accomplished.  Not only have we demonstrated our support for President Obama, but we also have shown the world that Mormons are a diverse group of individuals with varied political ideas and persuasions.  (And I fully acknowledge that this post is starting off a tad bit self-congratulatory.)

I have especially enjoyed hearing the many stories that folks have shared about their Mormons for Obama t-shirts and bumper stickers.  Kelly ended up in an Italian online news journal with her shirt.  And another example: Butch in Pennsylvania emailed me describing reactions that he has received from people.  He takes his sister shopping and sometimes will wait in the car, and he has enjoyed watching the positive reaction of the passersby.  (This kind of sounds like missionary work.)

He writes, "I have to laugh at stop lights here - seeing people take pictures and some honking their horns."  Of course not everyone was happy with his bumper sticker: "one lady pulled up next to me and shook her finger at me, scolding me!"  But Butch isn't alone in seeing some negative reactions - as we see in this post by Joanna Brooks - but much of the reaction has been positive.  And even when it wasn't, we found it humorous all the same.

In fact, many people found this website and Facebook group because of the bumper stickers on your cars or the t-shirt that you casually wore to the grocery store.  One woman emailed that she was tailed down the street, and when she finally exited her car, her follower asked, "where did you get that bumper sticker? I need one!"

Read this wonderful post by Jana Reiss about her thoughts on the bumper sticker and how the conjunction "and" is not enough.

Admittedly, we Mormons for Obama have a lot to be thankful for this season.  Also, we were pleased to discover that Mormons actually voted for Obama in higher numbers than those who voted Democrat in 2004 when Bush was reelected.  (Or said another way, GW Bush received more Mormon votes than did Romney.)  See this article from Business Insider, and thank you to Dave in Seattle for emailing this to us.

I am grateful for a lot this Thanksgiving season.  And I am especially grateful to all of the Mormons for Obama out there who stood up for the President (and sometimes made difficult sacrifices) in the midst of a contentious election season that sometimes came closer to home than we would have hoped or anticipated.  Please share your stories with us!  We would love to hear about your experiences with your t-shirts and bumper stickers!  (And Happy Thanksgiving!)

Comments from Joseph M -

This is wonderful advice from Joanna Brooks - I also am amazed by the emails and comments that we receive on the Mormons for Obama website using similar condemnatory language. Of course, for us here this kind of thing may be a little easier to deal with because the emails are coming from strangers rather than our "friends" on Facebook.  So I appreciate Joanna's comments and admonition that we try to understand Mormon Republicans and where they are coming from, and also that this goes both ways.  So let each of us speak gently with our Mormon brothers and sisters during this political season, and we ask the same thing of them as well.  We hope that no one would feel "out of place" in their ward congregations because of political divisiveness or something that we said, and thus we must remember to have compassion and understanding for those who may believe differently than us.

Admittedly, I am also very excited to see a picture of my car on Joanna Brooks' website. This makes my car more famous than my car ever dreamed it would be.

Post by Joseph M. -

Seeing that we at Mormons for Obama are not without sin, I don't want to be the first to cast a stone at another; (so can somebody else please do it for me, and then I will surreptitiously cast the second stone?)  And then there's that thing about a glass house; (is that even biblical?)  Well, Buzzfeed caught wind of this and put it out there - (the media is running out of Mormon stories to run): some Romney Mormons have co-opted the "Choose the Right" slogan and slapped it underneath the Romney logo to drum up Mormon fervor for the Mormon candidate.  (As if they needed to do that.)  Click on this link for the Buzzfeed article.

Clearly, we have riffed the "I'm a Mormon" campaign with our bumper stickers - and so legally, I can't find fault with these people too much, except to ponder, "why didn't we think of making buttons?"  Although Buzzfeed does make a good point: Isn't Romney trying to distance himself from the religion discussion, and isn't this unhelpful in that regard?

Well, regardless of their intent, I feel I should respond in this way: instead of being upset because my childhood CTR ring (that would invariably leave a rusty-brown line around my finger not unlike the ring circling the inside of a dirty commode,) has now been connected with a political candidate who just might begin spewing white oil any day now, I have produced my own version of their bumper sticker... and then all associations with happy memories of my youth are washed away.  And please, no need to ask!  Feel free to use this graphic in all your Romney campaigning this fall:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WbQe-wVK9E]

The Obama campaign has produced a new video establishing some clear reasons for a second presidential term. I am so happy that I am on the right side of history on this one.

Also, my car and its accompanying bumper sticker is now famous... check out Democratic Underground for more on this historic occasion.

Here is the design - with a bigger and brighter font - (Some people said that the last one was a little hard to read from a distance on those wide Salt Lake City streets.)  Just click here.  Those of you that preordered: your stickers are on the way.

[caption id="attachment_844" align="aligncenter" width="540"] I'm voting for Obama, and I buy American[/caption]

Rob posted this on the Mormons for Obama Facebook page -- in the past four years, things have changed: he upgraded his automobile to an Intrepid. This new model has a sleek design and a functional interior with an eye to the future and the real challenges ahead. That other car (a Sebring?) had too much give in the steering wheel (it could change lanes at any moment without warning!) However, it did have a nice rack on top for a dog carrier.

[caption id="attachment_764" align="alignright" width="300" caption="David Horsey, The Los Angeles Times"][/caption]

Post by Joseph M-

Santorum made a special announcement, Romney congratulated him on his failed attempt at the nomination, and we (almost officially) got a Mormon running against Obama in the 2012 election.  Utah cheered, the South groaned, and people everywhere googled the words, "Romney mom jeans."  (Is anyone else sad that David Horsey left for Los Angeles when the Seattle PI shut down?)

So here we go. Orrin (Orwellian) Hatch predicts the destruction of the Mormon church by Obama and the Democrats, but seeing that I am a Democrat and support Obama, I tend to yawn and disagree.   Here is a link to a short article discussing Hatch's comments and their absurdity.

But the real big news of the day is this: due to all the requests for "I'm voting for Obama" bumper stickers, we have printed more, and they are on the way.  I will get the link put back up, so if you'd like to pre-order that will be possible.  A note of caution however: the design is a little different, but the bumper stickers do say the exact same thing.   If you would like to wait - I will post the new design on the site as soon as the stickers arrive! And in case you aren't aware of the background behind the stickers- we thought they would be a fun way to express our support for Obama.  We loosely based our slogan "I'm voting for Obama, and I'm a Mormon" on Phoenix Academy's new marketing campaign for new students:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW5ZHqjCCk8&w=560&h=315]
So order some stickers for your friends and family to show your support for the president!

Looks like this is your last chance to get a free bumper sticker courtesy of the Obama Campaign.  Dont be sad...you can always get one from us by clicking here and spending a few bucks.

Check out the bumper stickers we have made to show our support for Obama.  Please display a sticker to let everyone know that we are voting for Obama, and that we are Mormons!  Place it on your car, your kitchen window, or your Trapper Keeper.  Some of you already have one - but if you haven’t gotten yours yet, then click here on the sidebar (that hopefully works).  We are not making money on this – so the prices reflect the actual cost of the sticker, the shipping, and the PayPal fees.    I’ve noticed some other stickers on café press – but those cost quite a bit more, so we wanted to offer one here.

And spread the word – share this with your friends on Facebook.  We have a limited number of them, and we’ll only do this one printing.  (Now I'm supposed to say: so act fast!)