Maybe not directly – but if the ex-Minnesota governor and Republican presidential hopeful is too nice to win the nomination, you can blame Rev. Leith Anderson. I spent the last week talking to plugged-in evangelicals about how the candidate’s moderate style and political record mirrors that of his longtime minister. Today, my story, which includes an interview with Anderson, was published on The Daily Beast. Check it out and, as always, feel free to leave your thoughts below:

Daily Beast: Pawlenty’s Pastor Problem:

As a practicing Latter-day Saint, I was able to contribute ideas and insights, as well as a good deal of the reporting and writing. But I’m happy to say that everyone who worked on the package, including our terrific editor Damon Linker, was very respectful of the LDS Church and its teachings. I know some Mormons believe there is a media bias against their faith – and maybe to some extent that’s true. But here at Newsweek/The Daily Beast, it’s been my experience that the journalists are sensitive, professional, and eager to explain Mormonism to our large global readership.

I appeared on MSNBC this morning, and will be doing a few radio hits today discussing the cover story. I’ll also be hosting a live chat on The Daily Beast on Wednesday at 1:00 pm EST, so please stop in if you have a minute.

From the article (which you can read here):

“I supported (ramping up troop presence) because I was concerned with what would happen to the women in the country” if the Taliban took control, Dean said. “But I recently read about Karzai saying some very sexist, terrible things, and it’s become obvious that there’s not a whole lot of difference between the two sides.”

He continued: “As much as I feel terrible about what’s happening to the women there, Karzai has shown he can’t be trusted any more than the Taliban to help them.”

A taste from the article:

As governor, he became something of a state joke when he entrusted his emotional well-being to a new-age guru who instructed him and his staff to ward off negative thoughts by snapping a rubber band on their wrists and saying, “Cancel. Cancel.”

Yes, he’s that kind of  candidate. At least he’s bringing up a serious, mostly ignored issue. Read all about him here.

OK, that’s not exactly how it went. In fact, I kind of muscled my way into reporting NEWSWEEK’s recent story on the Beehive State: “Promised Land: How Utah Became an Economic Zion.” (As you can tell, the headline writers didn’t skimp on religious verbiage.)  

What actually happened: My editor, Tony Dokoupil, came across a Deseret News article a couple months back that discussed the state’s potential as “the next Silicon Valley” and he took interest. When he told me he was going to write a feature on the state’s entrepreneurial drive, I dutifully offered my services.

 Of course, I don’t personally have much experience with Utah’s startup culture, but as a Mormon who went to college at BYU, I assumed I wasn’t far removed from some of the industry’s most influential players/observers. So I put up the LDS bat signal (with the help of my dad’s extensive LinkedIn directory) and spent a weekend fielding e-mails from major movers and shakers. 

By Monday, I was able to hand over a list of data points and contacts so thoroughly overwhelming that my editor had to assume I made half of it up. (I didn’t!) The piece turned out well, I think, and even the information that didn’t make it into the article itself helped shape my editor’s thesis and perception of Utah. So thanks to all those who helped.

 Here’s a key paragraph:

 Defining itself against the liberal left coast is an act of jujitsu. Utah’s biggest potential liability—its conservative, religious populus—becomes an indisputable strength. Utah’s people are, indeed, an employer’s dream. They are healthy, hard workers (pouring in 48 hours a week on average), and exceedingly stable, with the highest birthrates in the nation. The large number of young Mormons who spend two years on a conversion mission also means a huge swath of the population earned its sales stripes in hostile terrain. This might not offer an easily replicable path for states looking to follow Utah’s economic lead. Then again, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is always looking to expand.

The mistake-riddled, rights-suppressing document in question is, of course, the FBI’s terror watch list.

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Also, you can read my post yesterday providing an update on the movement of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico: OIL MAKES LANDFALL AS BP PREPS CONTAINMENT DOME

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Critics throughout the country are decrying Arizona’s tough new immigration law as “misguided,” “racist” and just plain “stupid”—but not everyone hates it. A voter poll in Utah published Thursday shows that a whopping 65 percent of Utahans would support their state modeling its immigration laws after Arizona’s. With such strong support, it’s not surprising that a local politician has already pledged to craft a bill and bring it to Utah’s 2011 legislative session… CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING