Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be in Bellevue tomorrow for a fundraiser. The event is closed to the press so I'm not sure how much coverage Romney will get. But the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints figures if Romney is in town it's more than likely there'll be some inaccurate reporting on the church to follow.

This week, Annette Bowen, Seattle area media relations director for the church, sent reporters an e-mail with background about the church. She wrote:

Because of the controversy regarding Mitt Romey's faith and beliefs as he campaigns for the Republican nomination for US President, it will be helpful for you to have these links to background information to avoid making errors that have been previously made in the press.

The e-mail includes links to a style guide on the proper name of the church:

The official name of the Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This full name was given by revelation from God to Joseph Smith in 1838...

While the term "Mormon Church" has long been publicly applied to the Church as a nickname, it is not an authorized title, and the Church discourages its use.

Bowen told me she decided to send out the advisory "after reading so much in the press that is inaccurate."

"I just wanted to say, 'We're here and happy to answer any questions.'"

About politics, Bowen's e-mail says:

Though Romney is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he is not endorsed as a candidate by the Church, which has a policy of strict political neutrality (see link below). The Church does not seek to influence how members vote or officials govern. No tithing or Church funds are supporting the Romney campaign.

His candidacy is popular among church members. The invitation to his fundraiser tomorrow includes 20 people on a list of hosts. At least half are members of the church. That's what I was able to figure out from a quick, simple Web search. The hosts include Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, and former state Rep. Toby Nixon, both LDS members.

Roach told me there is an excitement among LDS members about Romney's campaign. She said the same thing was evident when Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith ran for office, when fellow Mormons showed "he had a great deal of grassroots involvement because of his candidacy."

"It did invigorate LDS people, many of whom are already serving in communities in positions of leadership. It is not a closed society as one might think, because LDS people, by admonition, are involved in their communities."

The LDS Newsroom link also includes information on polygamy to discourage the misperception on the part of some Americans that it still exists as part of the Church. Polygamy comes up in discussions about Romney, in general because of his religion and in specific because his great-grandfather was a polygamist. And it comes up because of a TV show.

This sort of jumped out at me when I was listening the other day to Slate's June 14 podcast, the Political Gabfest: The three Slate journalists were discussing the Republican presidential candidates. Among other topics covered, John Dickerson said that any GOP candidate who supports a pardon for Scooter Libby should have to say whether they would give Libby a job if elected. There was also a discussion about fighting between Rudy Giuliani and Romney, and an assessment of how those candidates were faring.

Emily Bazelon: And Big Love is back on the air. That can't be good for Romney if people watch it this summer. Every time I watch that show I think, 'This is going to be Romney's undoing,' because it makes people think that Mormons are still polygamists, even though really they're mostly not.

Dickerson: You think?

David Plotz: That's as kooky as John's Libby theory.

Dickerson: Oh, come on, it's much kookier than the Libby theory.

Bazelon: It's the Big Love effect. ... You mark my words.

Dickerson: Somebody out there is, certainly.

Big Love is an HBO series about a Utah polygamist and his family, including relatives in a fundamentalist sect.

Romney spokeswoman Sarah Pompei says the candidate has been a frequent target of attacks because of his religion:

"Governor Romney talks about his faith quite often. He shares the same values that most Americans do and most Americans want a person of faith to lead their country. ... He believes voters will make their decision not based on doctrinal differences, but on issues of leadership and where the candidates stand on the issues."

On Monday Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback apologized to Romney for an e-mail from a Brownback staffer that said in part, "the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith."

Monday night, Romney responded: "He said that religious attacks don't have any place in politics and, of course, we agree on that. I told him that was not a big matter to me. If I can't stand the heat, I shouldn't be in the kitchen."

Bowen had no comment on the "Big Love effect." But, she said:

"First of all the fundamentalist LDS church has nothing to do with the Jesus Christ Church of Latter-day Saints. Mormons do not practice polygamy. They have not practiced it in over 100 years."

Romney hasn't always taken the issue seriously. In his exploratory campaign he joked about plural marriage among Mormons. As Slate wrote last year:

"I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman ... and a woman ... and a woman," Romney quipped at the 2005 St. Patrick's Day breakfast in Boston. He made the same joke on Don Imus' 2006 St. Patrick's Day show. Thanks to Romney's perfect delivery and the self-deprecating subtext — the tension between Romney's defense of "traditional" marriage and his own ancestors' history — it's a pretty funny line. But if you're trying to convince evangelicals that you share their values, why make your job more difficult? For that matter, why annoy your fellow faithful, who could be a big help in your presidential campaign but tend to bristle at plural-marriage humor? In addition, when Romney gets all huffy in response to Big Love-inspired questions about polygamy ("Actually, it's not a Mormon family. My church has long ago given up that practice," he lectured Chris Matthews), his own shtick makes it hard to take him seriously.

This year he took a far different tone in an interview with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes:

"There is part of the history of the church's past that I understand is troubling to people. Look, the polygamy, which was outlawed in our church in the 1800s, that's troubling to me. I have a great-great grandfather. They were trying to build a generation out there in the desert. And so he took additional wives as he was told to do. And I must admit I can't imagine anything more awful than polygamy."

MORE: I just talked to former Rep. Toby Nixon who is active in Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, as well as the Church of Latter-day Saints. Nixon echoed Bowen that there is no connection between his work on Romney's behalf and his LDS membership.

In fact, he said, church members have become very sensitive about maintaining political neutrality.

"The fact is the church is being so meticulously neutral, it's almost like you talk about Romney or anybody at a church event and people try to hush you up."

Nixon is the public affairs director for the church's Kirkland Stake, a group of seven LDS congregations in the area. It, like all church positions, is a volunteer post. Nixon says Romney should not assume fellow Mormons are committed supporters of his candidacy.

"Most of them are keeping an open mind. I guess we've all kind of learned over the years that just because you're Mormon doesn't mean you're perfect. It doesn't automatically mean that's the guy to support."