Media fuzzily hypo Mormon influence in Nevada vote

News media over the weekend, following the Nevada caucuses and the sweep by Mitt Romney on the Republican side, seemed to paint the Silver State --- where gambling, smoking, drinking and merrymaking are highlighted around the clock --- as a Mormon state, notes Grumpy Editor who dug a bit to see where this fuzzy “fact” originated.

A sampling of lines from media coverage, following the Republican caucus results that showed Mitt Romney with 22,649 votes or 51 percent, followed by Ron Paul with 6,087 votes yielding 14 percent and John McCain with 5,651 for 13 percent:

Romney, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, benefited from a large turnout of Mormons. --- The Wall Street Journal.

Mormons gave Romney half his votes. --- Associated Press.

Exit polls conducted by the Associated Press and TV networks show that one-fifth of the Republican caucus-goers were Mormons, who overwhelmingly supported Romney, who has been active in the religion since childhood. --- National Public Radio.

Half of Romney’s total votes came from Mormons. --- Politico.com.

Typical headline:  Large Mormon turnout powers Mitt.

Along with these, CNN, Fox News, NBC and other visiting national media, obviously chatted among themselves and compared notes at a Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino. 

A line that echoed most notably in TV and radio coverage put the emphasis on a “sizeable” Mormon population in the Silver State.

Actually, Mormons in Nevada represent just 7 percent of the population.  That compares with Utah where Mormons represent 72 percent of the population and Idaho with 27 percent.

Perhaps the visiting media were a bit confused with other “Mormons” in Nevada that become active, sometimes in election years.  The Silver State often gets infested with millions of hungry Mormon crickets that swarm through rangelands dominated by sagebrush.

Those three-inch munchers, however, don’t get major media coverage even though they all move in the same direction.