[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)
