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Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Today's Headlines

National Review Online
- The Voucher Challenge

New York Times
- Lawsuit Against the University of Utah Cites Collision of Religious and Speech Rights

St. George Spectrum
- Health care hits hard at city budget

Deseret Morning News
- Lee Benson: Letters pan U.'s defying of gun law
- No county billboard ban
- Parking may be free - after 3
- Y. lawyer nominated to D.C. appeals court
- Bluffdale dispute heading to court
- Obstacles remain for blacks
- Van Dam calls for independent probe of abuse
- Outdoor exhibition looking at relocating
- Provo, S.L., state score high on business surveys
- Utah business conditions show strength
- Fixing CRT test problems
- Lee Davidson: A guide to understanding Utah politics

Salt Lake Tribune
- Fed fire funding burns hole in pockets
- S.L. County sets billboard rules
- Rolly and Wells: Realtors at home with GOP
- Visiting educator urges increase in minority teachers
- Bluffdale-Herriman annexation duel heading to court

Wednesday's Tip
Leadership

What makes a real leader? Some people think at least part of leadership is self-promotion. But consider this wisdom from James McGregor Burns, quoted in the book "Lincoln on Leadership," by Donald T. Phillips, page xv:

"Many acts heralded or bemoaned as instances of leadership-acts of oratory, manipulation, sheer self-advancement, brute coercion-are not such. Much of what commonly passes as leadership-conspicuous position-taking without followers or follow-through, posturing on various public stages, manipulation without general purpose, authoritarianism-is no more leadership than the behavior of small boys marching in front of a parade, who continue to strut along Main Street after the procession has turned down a side street toward the fairgrounds."

Political Calendar

Please submit calendar items to earlybird@utahpolicy.com.

May 13, 2004:

Sponsored Article
Mega-Credit Unions: Tough Guys or Paper Tigers?
Commentary by LaVarr Webb

(Editor's note: To help defray the costs of producing Earlybird, we will periodically publish op-ed type articles, such as this one from the banking industry, that espouse a particular point of view from an Exoro Group client or other organization.)

I remember an old TV or movie vignette showing Pee Wee Herman shadowboxing across a room of people, getting to the other side, and exulting, "I beat them all senseless!" Trouble is, no one else in the room knew there was a fight.

Lobbyists for Utah's mega-credit unions love to do the same thing. They jump into political contests where their political opposition, the banks, don't even engage, and then try to take credit for whatever happens.

For example, the mega-credit union operatives are crowing like bantam roosters over Nolan Karras' second-place finish in last Saturday's Republican state convention. A credit union publication, the "Credit Union Times," trumpets Karras' showing as "a political triumph for the Utah League of Credit Unions." Come again? So Karras' hard work, knowledge of the issues, convention presentation, and so forth, had nothing to do with his success?

There is definitely less here than meets the eye. If Karras is a mega-credit union lackey, it's news to him. Since the Credit Union Times story appeared, he and his campaign staff have spent considerable time on the phone explaining to his banker supporters that he is no water boy for the credit unions.

The truth is, bankers could just as easily have claimed credit for Karras' success as the credit union lobbyists. After all, a senior bank executive seconded Karras' nomination during Karras' convention presentation. Karras earlier responded favorably to questions the Utah Bankers Association asked of him. And he was invited to speak before the bankers' caucus at the convention and received a warm reception.

Banks had more than double the delegates at the convention as credit unions. Some bankers obviously supported Karras. Some supported Jon Huntsman, Jr. And others supported other candidates.

Moreover, one of the top executives of Utah's largest multi-billion dollar credit union helped nominate Jim Hansen at the convention, and Hansen lost badly. So was that a credit union loss? Credit unions have also cozied up to Gov. Olene Walker, claiming she supports their position. So should they be blamed for her loss? It would be just as accurate to say the credit unions were abject failures in their support of Hansen and Walker as to say they handed the convention to Karras on a silver platter.

In fact, if the Credit Union League was backing Karras, delegates who worked for credit unions certainly didn't, with pre-convention polls showing 33% of credit union delegates' first choice for governor was Huntsman versus only 13% for Karras--almost three times more supporting Huntsman than Karras. 

So it's all hype. It's all spin. But it's a dangerous game the mega-credit union operatives are playing. Karras has plenty enough to worry about without angering Utah's banking community and having a major bank-credit union battle explode in his face. Bankers have exhibited remarkable restraint to this point. Many bankers have been very close to Karras, but if they come to believe he has betrayed them, this could easily escalate into a multi-million dollar mass-media battle between big financial institutions. The other important issues, like education and economic development, would be lost in the fray. That wouldn't be good for the candidates, the campaign, or for Utah.

The credit union spinmeisters also like to take credit for Marty Stephens' fifth place convention showing. The credit union league attacked Stephens with some last-minute mailings and phone calls to delegates. More shadow-boxing. But an analysis of convention voting shows that Stephens had the same support, or even a little more, after the attacks as he did before. Big credit union lobbyists wasted some postage and phone banks, but didn't alter the convention outcome one iota.

The worst thing for the credit union lobbyists is that their shadow-boxing antics are wearing thin with the Republican Legislature. Over and over, these operatives have offended legislative leaders and the majority of Republican lawmakers. And, sadly for them, the Legislature is where this issue will ultimately be resolved. That's where the real battle is and the credit union operatives don't seem to get it.

They're off shadow-boxing with non-existent opponents while being soundly defeated in the fight that counts.

There's a two-word name for these guys: Paper Tiger.