National Delegates to be Selected on Saturday

One of the duties of state convention delegates is electing national committee representatives and delegates to the national conventions. On the Republican side, a lot of people with fringe agendas, in addition to party dissidents, seek these positions to give themselves a forum for their views. Because delegates at the state convention often aren’t familiar with a lot of the candidates for the national positions, there’s always a chance that some rather interesting characters will be elected. The GOP national convention will be held this year Sept. 1-4 in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

To attempt to ensure that mainstream national delegates will be elected at the state convention on Saturday who will actually vote for John McCain as the party’s presidential candidate, a preferred slate of national delegates and alternates has been endorsed by McCain and Mitt Romney. A flyer listing those on the preferred slate was mailed to all state delegates recently by the Huntsman-Herbert campaign, providing Gov. Jon Huntsman’s endorsement as well.

The preferred slate of delegates and alternates lists many of Utah’s leading Republicans, including some office-holders, major contributors, and several lobbyists.

There are several sets of husband-wife couples on the preferred slate, and that often causes resentment among other national delegate candidates who may not be as prominent in the party. National delegate slots are coveted posts, and when couples take two of the positions it leaves fewer slots for others. One national delegate candidate told me he considers it a little greedy for couples to run as delegates. He thinks that, out of courtesy, only one spouse should be elected delegate and the other spouse can still attend the convention and participate in many social events and other meetings.

One thing to watch at the GOP convention on Saturday is whether those on the preferred slate are elected as delegates or whether others manage to buck the power structure and make it to Minneapolis. 

Washington Watch

Matheson: Shield Kids from Adult-Rated Games
Rep. Jim Matheson introduces a bill that would require "retailers to check identification in order to keep inappropriate video games from being sold to children." Says Matheson: "Too many children are spending too much time playing inappropriate video games that most parents would find shocking and objectionable. As a parent, I know that I'm the first line of defense against my kids playing Mature-rated video games. But parents can't be everywhere monitoring everything and some reasonable, common sense rules ought to be in place to back parents up" (see press release and related Variety story).

Recession, or No Recession?

Utah economist Jeff Thredgold’s Tea Leaf economic update this week discusses whether the U.S. is in a recession or not. A combination of slightly stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth during the January to March 2008 period…combined with a less painful April jobs report than expected …combined with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rallying back to the 13000 level…and combined with a modestly stronger U.S. dollar has again moved economic forecasters toward a 50/50 bet as to recession.  One could add to this combination the short-term and long-term impact of seven Federal Reserve easing moves since last September.

Regarding unemployment statistics, Thredgold says, “As nearly always, education level is commensurate with employment. Those with a bachelor’s degree or higher had a jobless rate of 2.1% in April, while those with some college or an associate’s degree had a 3.9% jobless rate.  High school graduates with no college had a jobless rate of 5.0%, while those with less than a high school diploma had a 7.8% jobless rate.As former Harvard President Derek Bok once stated, ‘If you think education is expensive…try ignorance.’”

Groups Oppose Drilling Plan
According to a Wilderness Society press release, "[l]ast week tens of thousands of Americans from across the nation called on the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reject a Denver-based gas company's plans to drill more than 800 new natural gas wells in eastern Utah's Nine Mile Canyon region ... The BLM received more than 53,000 comments … (including) letters criticizing the project from the state of Utah, the Hopi Tribe, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership." Says advocate Pam Miller: "Nine Mile Canyon contains rock art from Native American cultures from thousands of years ago to the Ute period of a few hundred years ago. It's a truly unique area and one worth fighting for."

Taxpayers Association Newsletter
The Utah Taxpayers Association has posted its May newsletter. This month's edition looks at Utah K-12 per student expenditures and features a column by Association President Howard Stephenson on the Association's upcoming "Utah Taxes Now" conference.

Today in Political History

May 8, 1884:  Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the United States, is born in Lamar, MO.

May 8, 1999:  The Citadel, South Carolina's formerly all-male military school, graduates its first female cadet.  (Source:  NY Times) 

Wise Words

“A president either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt that I could let up for a moment.”

-- Harry S. Truman (Source:  Brainy Quote) 

Utah Political History

Utah’s First Territorial Prison

The same act of Congress that provided for organizing Utah Territory in 1850 also appropriated money for a territorial prison.  The facility was completed in 1854 at a cost of $34,000. It sat on three acres of ground southeast of Salt Lake City, surrounded by a wall 20 feet high and four feet thick made of sandstone and adobe.  (Source:  Utah’s History by Poll, Richard D., Alexander, Thomas G., et al.  Brigham Young University Press 1978, page 286) 

National Politics

Best Stories From . . .

-- The Hill: "Senior advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that she would continue to fight for the Democratic nomination despite losing ground to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) Tuesday in the race for delegates."

-- New York Daily News: Columnist Michael Goodwin: "It's over. Barack Obama now wears the crown of inevitability. Unless he falls off a cliff, or the Rev. Jeremiah Wright  pushes him, he is going to be the Democratic nominee."

-- ABC News: Analyst George Stephanopoulos says Clinton may be angling for the vice presidential slot.

-- New York Times: Columnist David Brooks says "this general election is going to look nothing like the last two. Those elections were base mobilization elections. The candidates did little to upset party orthodoxy or move dramatically toward the center. That won’t work this time. ... In 2004, only about 10 percent of the electorate was really undecided. Now about 36 percent is undecided. That’s a lot of votes to play for."

Lighter Side

Best of Late Night Humor

Jay Leno: Happy Cinco de Mayo. People love Cinco de Mayo. I saw this one woman throwing back shots of tequila one after the other. Then I realized it was Hillary Clinton working the Latino vote. ... Hillary Clinton told People magazine this week she’s never had cosmetic surgery. She said it it’s not for her. You know how politicians hate anything that’s fake. ... Actually, there was a rumor she had cosmetic surgery back in the ‘90s. They said she had her eyes done when she was First Lady. It turns out it was right after the scandal. They just took the blinders off. That was all. No actual surgery was involved. ... Because of where John McCain was born—he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, you know, not in the United States—there was a question as to whether he could legally become president. Well, this week, the Senate declared McCain is eligible to become president, and listen to this, because of his age, also eligible to be a greeter at Wal-Mart. So that worked out great for him. ... President Bush blasted Congress for not allowing oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Democrats said it wouldn’t do any good, because it wouldn’t produce oil for 10 years. You know, the same thing they said 10 years ago. (Patriot Post www.patriotpost.us)