One interesting feature of the Romney candidacy is that it seems to be piquing voters’ curiosity about Mormons. Consider, for example, the frequency with which the search term “Mormon” is plugged into the Google search engine. Using Google Trends, we plotted the volume of weekly searches in the United States for the terms “Mormon” and “Romney” from 2004 to the present.[1] Searches for “Mormon” or “Romney” remained relatively constant from 2004 to 2007. In late 2007 and early 2008, Romney campaigned in the GOP presidential primary, and both search terms enjoyed a brief upward bump. When Romney dropped out of the race in early 2008, the use of these search terms subsided and remained flat until 2011. When Romney declared his current bid for the presidency in June of 2011, searches for “Mormon” soared and remained high as he won the battle for nomination in the first half of 2012. As we enter the fall of 2012, searches for “Mormon” have reached at an all-time high. The search term is currently five times more popular than it was in 2010. (Monkey Cage)

One interesting feature of the Romney candidacy is that it seems to be piquing voters’ curiosity about Mormons. Consider, for example, the frequency with which the search term “Mormon” is plugged into the Google search engine. Using Google Trends, we plotted the volume of weekly searches in the United States for the terms “Mormon” and “Romney” from 2004 to the present.[1] Searches for “Mormon” or “Romney” remained relatively constant from 2004 to 2007. In late 2007 and early 2008, Romney campaigned in the GOP presidential primary, and both search terms enjoyed a brief upward bump. When Romney dropped out of the race in early 2008, the use of these search terms subsided and remained flat until 2011. When Romney declared his current bid for the presidency in June of 2011, searches for “Mormon” soared and remained high as he won the battle for nomination in the first half of 2012. As we enter the fall of 2012, searches for “Mormon” have reached at an all-time high. The search term is currently five times more popular than it was in 2010. (Monkey Cage)