Romney uses tax-exempt church to organize presidential bid

Even though I've been a student in Massachusetts for the last few years, I still pay more attention to the politics in my home state of Missouri, which make me sick enough. But Mitt Romney has always been a source of bewilderment to me. He's remarkably transparent, and was having fantasies about the presidency before he'd even won office here. Since winning, he's done what you'd expect a Bush-era right-wing Christian to do: toured the country trashing Massachusetts for its loony lefties and burnishing his fundamentalist street cred with an eye to 2008. It's the strategy that's been working so well for the right-- speak liberally, but carry a big book on supply-side economics.

Predictably, Romney wasn't going to become a prominent figure in politics here. And since he got his red-state "I'm a uniter" wish in a blue state, he really doesn't care anymore. It's all about the presidency, so bring on the fundamentalists.

Governor Mitt Romney's political team has quietly consulted with leaders of the Mormon Church to map out plans for a nationwide network of Mormon supporters to help Romney capture the presidency in 2008, according to interviews and written materials reflecting plans for the initiative.

Over the past two months, Romney's political operatives and church leaders have discussed building a grass-roots political organization using alumni chapters of Brigham Young University's business school around the country. More recently, representatives of BYU, which is run by the church, and Romney's political action committee have begun soliciting help from prominent Mormons, including a well-known author suggested by the governor, to build the program, which Romney advisers dubbed Mutual Values and Priorities, or MVP.

The president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley, has been made aware of the effort and expressed no opposition, the documents show, and at least one other top church official has played a more active role.

Church officials and Romney advisers downplayed the discussions. Church officials say they have a position of strict neutrality on political matters and are not supporting Romney's candidacy.

But documents indicate that Jeffrey R. Holland, one of 12 apostles who help lead the church worldwide, has handled the initiative for the Mormons and that he hosted a Sept. 19 meeting about it in his church office in Salt Lake City with Josh Romney, one of the governor's sons; Don Stirling, a paid consultant for the Commonwealth PAC, Romney's political action committee; and Kem Gardner, a prominent Salt Lake City developer who is one of Romney's biggest donors. Globe reporters observed Romney's representatives enter and leave chuch headquarters for the meeting.