News Highlights

New poll suggests SL Co. Mayor Peter Corroon will breeze to an easy re-election victory in November (Deseret Morning News).

Members of an environmental and hunting coalition are concerned about massive expansion of mineral extraction from the Great Salt Lake (Salt Lake Tribune).

Quote of the Day

“A better characterization of me and my 44 colleagues would be my long departed Blue Healer and faithful cow dog Zero. Z knew a snake, thief, liar and any other malcontent when he saw them, and he did his upmost to keep me, my cow herd and my family protected."

-- Rep. Mike Noel, in an op-ed essay defending his attempt to obtain information from SUWA after felony convictions of two of its leaders (The Spectrum).

The Week Ahead

Big political week ahead with neighborhood party caucuses Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. Many candidates and interest groups have been working for months to prepare for the caucuses. For two much different perspectives on Utah’s caucus/convention system, read Sunday’s Pignanelli/Webb column in the Morning News. Pig says Utah’s system is outdated and stinks. Webb says it’s a terrific system and smells good. (Webb is right, of course. If Pig wants to defend himself, he can get his own political newsletter.)

Meanwhile, if you’re still wondering where to attend your caucus meeting, contact the Democratic or Republican parties for find your location. Leaders from both parties issued a joint press release last week encouraging caucus participation. You will need to go to the GOP web site or Democratic web site, and then click on your county party web site to find your caucus location.

On Wednesday, a Utah Foundation fundraising luncheon and annual meeting kicks off the 2008 Utah Priorities Project, a year-long effort to focus political dialogue on the issues that matter most to Utahns. The luncheon will be held at the Hilton Hotel, 255 S. West Temple. Gov. Jon Huntsman will deliver keynote address at noon, and survey data will be released about Utahns’ top priorities. For more information and to register, click here.

Other political events this week include John McCain coming to town for a fundraising luncheon Thursday in Grand America Hotel. Click here for the invitation and for more details, or contact Mike Deaver at 801-230-0982 or mikedeaver@gmail.com.  For all the week’s political events, see the Utah Policy.com calendar.

Monday Musing

Sundry Items

We’re getting to that time of year when we need to make it abundantly clear to Mother Nature that we’re just not satisfied with temperatures in the 50s. We need 60s! … A New York Times essay entitled “Donner Party Democrats” conjures up some rather delicious images. Says author Timothy Egan: “They are now ravenous with hunger, and it is starting to show.” … TV and the movies make marital infidelity and one-night stands seem like fun. But are they really? For a reality check, read this New York Times essay by Pamela Druckerman.

Today in Political History

Mar. 24, 1986:  The federal debt passes through the $2,000,000,000,000 mark on this date.  (Source:  Perspicuity)  Today, the national debt is estimated to be almost $9.4 trillion (National Debt Clock).

Mar. 24, 1995:  The House of Representatives passes the most significant welfare reform package since the New Deal.  (Source:  NBC5) 

Wise Words

“Debt, n.:   An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slave driver.” 

-- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911  (Source:  Quote Garden) 

Leadership Tip

From Manager to Leader

Ask anyone and they'll tell you. There's a difference between managers and leaders. Ask them what that difference is and they may have a bit more difficulty. Suddenly the words become amorphous and undefined. Somehow leadership is an intangible -- a charismatic component that some people have and others simply don't. That's why, according to the ubiquitous "they", it is such a rarity.

Wrong.

The difference between being a manager and being a leader is simple. Management is a career. Leadership is a calling…  Only when you understand your role as guide and steward based on your own most deeply held truths can you move from manager to leader. 

Whether the group you oversee is called employees, associates, co-workers, teammates or anything else, what they are looking for is someone in whom they can place their trust. Someone they know is working for the greater good -- for them and for the organization. They're looking for someone not only that they can -- but that they want to -- follow. (Source:  Management) 

National Politics

Best Stories From . . .

-- Politico: "New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, fresh off his endorsement of Barack Obama this week, suggested Sunday that Hillary Clinton should consider dropping out of the race if she trails in the delegate count and popular vote at the end of the primary process."
 
-- Wall Street Journal: Obama "had three times as much money in the bank at the end of February as Hillary Clinton, putting the Illinois senator on a stronger financial footing heading into the last round of primaries and caucuses for the Democratic presidential nomination."

-- New York Times: John McCain's trip abroad last week "was more than just a Congressional fact-finding trip ... It was also an audition on the world stage ... [that] offered him the chance to test his hope that he could repair America's tattered reputation by shifting course on some of the policies that have alienated its allies, in areas like global warming and torture. But he is making his foray even as he embraces what much of the world sees as the most hated remnant of the Bush presidency: the war in Iraq."

-- Washington Post: "The passport files of all three major presidential candidates were breached by unauthorized searches by four employees, the State Department said [Friday], prompting apologies from Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, outrage from the candidates and calls by lawmakers for further probes."

Blog Watch

-- At Out of Context, Robert Gehrke observes: "It's been said that good political polling is equal parts art and science. But the same goes for interpreting poll numbers. For an illustration of that maxim, and a look at the art and science both falling short, take a look at Sunday's survey in the Deseret Morning News. The story says that incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon could face a tough re-election bid. That part is pretty much common sense. But for proof, the DNews looks to a Dan Jones poll that shows 30 percent favor Cannon to 19 percent for his top Republican challenger, David Leavitt, and less for Jason Chaffetz. These numbers, however, are basically worthless for a couple of reasons. The sample consists of 'residents.' That's not voting-aged residents or registered voters or likely voters or registered Republicans. It's just residents. The public preference doesn't mean squat at this point. The general public -- those sampled in this poll -- won't get a say until November. Before then there will be delegate selection, a convention and probably a primary. Right now, it's all about the delegates, and they don't get picked until Tuesday. That, of course, doesn't stop the candidates from offering meaningless spin to the meaningless results, including Leavitt's odd assertion that he feels good about the numbers since he's only been campaigning for a month. You could see where that might be encouraging -- if it were true. But Leavitt filed his 'Statement of Organization' declaring himself a candidate with the Federal Elections Commission in May of 2007 -- approaching a year ago -- and he had spent $132,593 just through the end of 2007. That's a lot of campaign money to be spent not campaigning. Wonder how much more he's spent in the last month, you know, since he started campaigning."

Lighter Side

The Lobbyist Motto (e-mailed around by Robin Riggs; see Despair.com):

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