[Politics] OK, I'll admit I cheered when Jason Chaffetz bested Chris Cannon in Utah's 3rd District Republican primary. To be honest, I was mostly just tired of the same old eternal Bennett-Bishop-Cannon-Hatch congressional coven. Chaffetz seemed like he might shake things up a bit, bring some fresh blood into the mix.Later, it became clear that Chaffetz, far from being a breath of fresh air, was running as the ultrastale candidate who is even more hidebound to failed, Bush-era neocon policies--whose supporters went so far as to accuse Cannon as being too liberal, if such a thing can be imagined.
I despaired that the 3rd District would ever escape representation by fiscally and ethically bankrupt neocon policymakers. After all, it's 2008, and the era of Karl "Bush's Brain" Rove is coming to its ignominious end. Don't the good people of Utah deserve better than a warmed-over neocon?
Of course they do, and (despite the fact that the Trib has already crowned Chaffetz as Cannon's "successor"), as it so happens, there is another major-party candidate running for the open 3rd District seat.
In case you're curious, his name is Bennion Spencer. He's running on a fiscal responsibility plank, which would be a refreshing change from the disasterous borrow-and-spend policies of his predecessor (and which policies, presumably, would be exacerbated by Cannon's presumptive GOP "successor.") A major highlight from the prof's platform is the fact that his policies are well thought-out and clearly explained, as opposed to Chaffetz's passion for "earmark reform," Reaganomics, and continuing to entrust our health care to the tender mercies of profit-driven insurers.
Yes, Spencer's a Democrat. (Gasp!) Still, in 2008, that's not looking like such a bad bet.
Spencer's campaign Website has a link to an Alexander Nibley opinion piece which ran in City Weekly Nov. 2, 2000. He's got solid LDS cred, which should play well in the 3rd District. But he's hip enough to list CSI: Miami as a favorite show--and I defy anybody not to love David Caruso's smooth, low-key performance as Horatio Caine.
Any candidate who has the balls to link to City Weekly is a friend of mine. How many candidates do you know who are willing to fearlessly speak their minds? (Plus, Spencer is endorsed by possibly the only man on Earth cooler than Horatio Caine: venerable retired TV news anchor Dick Nourse.)
Bravo, Bennion Spencer, bravo!
This campaign has everything going for it--except for the fact that mainstream media is ignoring it in lockstep. How much noise will it take for the Trib to take notice? For 2News? KSL? The D-News?
How much noise do we have to make?
Who wants to find out?
(Brandon Burt)
Of course Jason is facing an a democrat. It is always good to have a choice. Jason is a concervative fiscal. He isn't as extreme as you make him out to be. If he was, I wouldn't have voted for him. re: money, Jason has run a race for the convention vote, and won, and against Cannon in the primary, and won. He did this, not by going in dept, but by having people volunteer to help for free. He is a businessman, who is succussful. I hope the democrate canditate does well selling his books. He could use the money.
ReplyDeleteTHe Dem is for fiscal conservatism and discipline?! Are you kidding me? He has almost zero money and what little he does have he loaned to his campaign, putting him in debt. Jason Chaffetz walks the walk of a true fiscal conservative and doesn't just talk about it. He ran his entire campaign debt-free and on a shoestring, relatively speaking. He has galvanized an incredible grassroots effort with over 1000 volunteers (that would be VOLUNTEERS, ie: unpaid) working with him and for him. I'm positive his opponent has no such grass-roots effort and even if he thought it was important, he is way behind the 8-ball in getting started. Chaffetz will make a congressman extraordinaire - thank goodness! He is anything BUT the same ol', same ol.
ReplyDeleteYou have to love anonymous. He can't spell, construct a sentence or make a cogent argument. All in all, anonymous appears to be a good Utah County Republican. People down here go for the tagline, don't think and love anything red waved in front of their eyes. Oh, they wouldn't want to post a comment that isn't anonymous either. That would mean standing behind the opinion.
ReplyDeleteAre you applauding him just because he is a Democrat? Is the better fiscal discipline?
ReplyDeleteOkay earmarks are a major issue, someone needs to take a stand. we always think everyone else's earmark is bad pork but ours. This democrat will not do that.
He would support picking winners and losers in energy, this didn't work for Ethanol and won't work for the next energy of the month.
Spencer supports cap and trade for carbon, ala Kyoto. These cap and trades currently only stop the supposed warming for like a month.('Cool It' by Bjorn Lomborg)
The Democrat supports 'fair trade' not free trade. This type of ideas forces other nations to conform to our standards before we do business. It is morally wrong and economically unhelpful.
He also wants to support the failed VA system for benefits. They need top of the line health insurance, which our government owes them.
Mr. Spencer is a Democrat and should be proud of it. Not create act like he isn't, this is pandering, Jason Chaffetz supports what he says even if some say he shouldn't. (Earmarks)
Brandon did a something that needed to be done in regards to this race.
ReplyDeleteBy posting his opinion on the matter he has created a discussion and a dialogue where people are actually digging for facts about each candidate. Does not matter if you agree with the OP or not. Now there is dialogue and that is what makes a healthy democracy.
Informed decisions / voting = The More You Know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpLFuA2i3wg&hl=en
(only "The more you know video I could find")
Did I miss something? When I clicked on the link to see the "fiscal responsibility plank" upon which Mr. Spencer was runnng, I didn't find anything. His other views on issues were listed, but nothing about fiscal responsibility. What I have read is that his campaign is already in the red.
ReplyDeleteSomething that has impressed me from the start with Jason Chaffetz is that he was able to run a campaign without going into debt. Although outspent by Mr. Cannon, he still was able to defeat him without accruing debt. Anyone who is fiscally responsible will shake things up in Washington. That would be a refreshing change to me.
Face it, Bennion Spencer might have all the correct boxes checked to make him semi-appealing to Utah voters but Dems should face the simple fact....There was no else who really wanted the challenge or would shell out major cash. Spencer was simply the best of the mediocre Democrats, not unlike Springmeyer.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm detecting more than a little flop-sweat emanating from the GOP this election season.
ReplyDeleteThe Utah Republican primary had an incredibly low turnout this year, and there's no reason to think that those numbers will go up much among disenchanted values-voters who have seen the Republicans grind their values of personal morality and fiscal responsibility into the mud.
On the other hand, the Democrats are surprisingly energized, even in Utah. And, come on--the Republicans can't be so ignorant of history that they imagine they'll be able to hang onto their supermajority forever, can they? They've had a very good run, after all.
Whether or not Bennion Spencer wins in the 3rd District, 2008 shows every sign of providing all kinds of Democratic upsets in supposedly "safe" Republican districts.
That'll be a good thing if it makes Republicans step back and think about how they've failed the people, and try to come up with a fresh, new direction.