Mormon Democrats? Is this possible?

I am very interested to know what you all think about Democrats in the church.  This is something that is never talked about in Sunday school or over the pulpit, but it gets talked about between members often.  The common perception seems to be that you can’t be a good Mormon, and be a democrat.  Some have even suggested that one should have his temple recommend taken away if he is a registered dem.  Let me say, I think that belief is rubbish.  Where do you think this belief came from?  Is it because Democrats are more liberal, and therefore have more progressive beliefs, and because most are pro-choice?  How does one explain the pro-choice republicans?  Or the log cabin republicans?  In today’s political spectrum one can be anywhere on the broad range from far right to far left and anywhere in between.  This is what I think we ought to be to looking at, not merely at the particular party one belongs to.  

I came across a very interesting article from the Salt Lake Tribune from May 3, 1998.  I think a lot of people regard the SLT as a liberal paper, but none the less, this article says something of substance; mostly because they quote a General Authority. Here is a portion of it:

HEADLINE: GOP Dominance Troubles Church; It hurts Utah, says general authority, disavowing any perceived Republican-LDS Link; LDS Official Calls for More Political DiversityThe LDS Church, through a high-ranking leader, is making its strongest public statement to date about the need for political diversity among members, while expressing concerns the Republican Party is becoming the "church party.""There is sort of a division along Mormon/non-Mormon, Republican/Democratic lines," says Elder Marlin Jensen, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. "We regret that more than anything -- that there would become a church party and a non-church party. That would be the last thing that we would want to have happen."Jensen said major national political parties may take stands that do not coincide with teachings of the 10 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but that should not put them out of bounds for members.   A former attorney and lifelong Democrat, Jensen was careful in his comments not to suggest an official LDS preference for any political party but to maintain the church's traditional stand of partisan neutrality.  The First Quorum of the Seventy is the third tier in LDS Church leadership after the Quorum of Twelve Apostles and the governing First Presidency.  

Jensen for the past three years has been a member of the church's Public Affairs Committee. He was designated by church officials to respond to The Salt Lake Tribune's request for an interview on the topic of partisan imbalance in Utah and among LDS members.
The Tribune's inquiry came on the heels of two significant developments: Utah Democrats' unprecedented failure to field a candidate in a congressional race and a statement from the LDS First Presidency -- read over pulpits in January -- urging members to seek elective office.In an hourlong interview at the church's worldwide headquarters in downtown Salt Lake City arranged and overseen by LDS media-relations director Mike Otterson, Jensen discussed leaders' views about the seeming demise of two-party politics among members. Among the concerns he aired:-- The LDS Church's reputation as a one-party monolith is damaging in the long run because of the seesaw fortunes of the national political parties.-- The overwhelming Republican bent of LDS members in Utah and the Intermountain West undermines the checks-and-balances principle of democratic government.-- Any notion that it is impossible to be a Democrat and a good Mormon is wrongheaded and should be "obliterated."-- Faithful LDS members have a moral obligation to actively participate in politics and civic affairs, a duty many have neglected."I am in shock," Utah Democratic Party Chairwoman Meghan Zanolli Holbrook said when told of Jensen's comments. "I have never heard anything like this in the years I've been here.""That's an earthshaker," said Democrat Ted Wilson, head of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and a longtime critic of the close connection between the Mormon Church and Republican Party."Mormon Democrats have been praying for this," said Wilson, who is LDS. "This is more than seeking -- we have beseeched the divinity over this."Utah Republican Chairman Rob Bishop's reaction was less enthusiastic. "Any time a major player in the social fabric of the state, like the church, says something, it will have an impact.""We obviously will not change," Bishop added. "If Mormons feel comfortable we welcome them. And if non-Mormons feel comfortable, we welcome them, too."Jensen, who was called as a general authority in 1989, said high church officials lament the near-extinction of the Democratic Party in Utah and the perception -- incorrect though it is -- that the GOP enjoys official sanction of the church.All five Congress members from Utah are Mormon and Republican, four of the five statewide offices are held by GOP officials and two-thirds of the state Legislature is Republican. Nearly 90 percent of state lawmakers are LDS. Democrats last held a majority in the state House in 1975, and in the Senate in 1977.

"One of the things that prompted this discussion in the first place was the regret that's felt about the decline of the Democratic Party [in Utah] and the notion that may prevail in some areas that you can't be a good Mormon and a good Democrat at the same time," Jensen said.  "There have been some awfully good men and women who have been both and are both today. So I think it would be a very healthy thing for the church -- particularly the Utah church -- if that notion could be obliterated."The idea that Mormonism and Democratic Party affiliation are incompatible traces back to the early 1970s, when LDS general authority Ezra Taft Benson, who later became church president, was quoted in an Associated Press interview as saying it would be difficult for a faithful member to be a liberal Democrat.Church officials later claimed the comment was taken out of context, although the AP stood by its account.  Jensen said concerns exist on two levels about the unofficial linkage of the Republican Party and Mormon Church.One is the fear that by being closely identified with one political party, the church's national reputation and influence is subject to the roller-coaster turns and dips of that partisan organization. Also bothersome is that the uncontested dominance of the Republican Party in Utah deprives residents of the debate and competition of ideas that underlie good government."There is a feeling that even nationally as a church, it's not in our best interest to be known as a one-party church," Jensen said. "The national fortunes of the parties ebb and flow. Whereas the Republicans may clearly have the upper hand today, in another 10 years they may not."

What does this article do to the anti-democrat Mormon’s argument that no Mormon can be a Democrat?  
I have a full copy of the long article if anyone wants to read it; email me.  I also have a copy of a story about Harry Reid that appeared in the Tribune.  He says a lot of members of the church wrote letters to him telling him what an awful person he was for being a democrat.  I think that is funny, since Reid is more conservative than a lot of republicans.

I am interested to hear your thoughts.