Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Ballard at Obama's Inauguration

“It is always an honor for the Church to be represented at the inauguration of a new president,” said President Thomas S. Monson. “We send our best wishes to President Obama and pray for the blessings of a loving Father in Heaven to be upon him and his administration.”

In this second photo, the Church leaders attend and participate in the National Prayer Service on Wed., Jan. 21, 2009.

Mormons in the Obama Administration

We are just starting to get word on the details of the incoming administration. Here are some members of the Obama Administration who are Latter-day Saints:

• Gordon Flake, advisor on Korea and East Asia
• Jon Huntsman, U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of CHINA

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.

Mormons for Obama

This past week, Tom Wickman of the Boston chapter of MESJ (with Eunice and Peter McMurray) wrote an opinion piece in the Salt Lake Tribune about his perspective as an LDS supporter of Senator Barack Obama.  Let me know what you think of this piece.

Michelle Obama meets with Mormon leaders

Michelle Obama visited LDS Church headquarters this morning, as part of her campaign stop in Salt Lake City. Her husband, Senator Barack Obama, was scheduled to visit Salt Lake City on Saturday, however due to the funeral services of President Gordon B. Hinckley, Obama canceled his campaign event. Instead, his wife, Michelle, visited Utah this morning. She visited with Elders Ballard and Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Barack Obama cancels campaign visit to Utah, citing President Hinckley's funeral

Barack Obama was scheduled to visit Salt Lake City this coming Saturday, but the presidential hopeful has canceled his visit to Utah out of respect for President Gordon B. Hinckley whose funeral services will be held on Saturday morning.

Obama spoke with President Thomas S. Monson on the telephone to express his condolences.

“Last night I spoke with President Thomas Monson and expressed my deepest sympathies to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” said Senator Obama.

Barack Obama is the only Democratic presidential candidate who has publicly expressed an interest in forming a strategy to reach out to and mobilize Latter-day Saints, especially in the Western United States.

Senator Obama's new Western tour will include a quick campaign stop in Phoenix, then he will travel directly to Boise, skipping over Salt Lake City.

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.