Mormons at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama

On Tuesday morning, thousands of American Latter-day Saints attended the Inauguration of America's 44th president, Barack Obama.  Among the millions in Washington for the events, many Mormons shared the moment of Obama's new administration.  Some prominent LDS in attendance:

• Senator Harry Reid, U.S. Senate Majority Leader (D-NV)
• Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT)
• Other LDS members of Congress, e.g. the Udall cousins (D-Nm, D-CO), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), etc.
• Mayor Mufi Hannemann, mayor of Honolulu, Hawai'i
• David Archuleta, singer
• Dieter Uchtdorf, 2nd counselor in the LDS Church's First Presidency (not American citizen)
• Russell Ballard, member of the Church's Quorum of the 12 Apostles

Mufi Hannemann one of earliest supporters of Obama

President-elect (until 22 hours from now) Barack Obama received early support from the mayor of his hometown, Honolulu: Mayor Mufi Hannemann, an LDS Democrat who has served in several presidential administrations, including Carter, Clinton, and Reagan.

Mayor of Honolulu and Samoan heritage

As the first Samoan-American to graduate from Harvard University, Mayor Mufi Hannemann honors his Samoan heritage at an event in Hawai'i.  Mayor Hannemann is the second Mormon to serve as mayor of the city of Honolulu.  He has served as a high councilor in the Honolulu West Stake.  

He recently participated in a celebration honoring Samoan culture and heritage.  

Barack Obama's Mormon Strategy

Latter-day Saints are a significant constituency in many Western states, like Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, California, Washington, and obviously Utah.  Understanding the importance of this significant group, Barack Obama's campaign has plans to attract Mormons in the general election, that is if Governor Romney does not receive his party's nomination. Please check out this article.  Although the Church does not support any political candidate, including Mitt, a large number of Church members in the West have pledged to support Mr. Romney.  But other Mormons are supporting other candidates in both major parties.  There are, in fact, a number of LDS groups caucusing for Barack Obama around the country.  Examples of such support are groups on Facebook, entitled, "Mormons for Obama", or "White Mormon Men for Obama".

 According to some pundits and political strategists, Mormons in general are less likely to support Huckabee or McCain if Romney loses.  The Obama campaign hopes to capitalize on that.

Among elected officials, one of Obama's earliest supporters was Mayor Mufi Hannemann, a Mormon Democrat and mayor of Honolulu, Obama's city of birth.