News Highlights

An essay by Sen. Orrin Hatch on the Federal Marriage Amendment. Tribune reports on Huntsman campaign s latest voluntary contribution disclosure and editorializes on the LDS Church s statement on the marriage amendment. Deseret Morning News editorializes against Salt Lake City tax increases.

A Kinder, Gentler Sutherland Institute

Wow. A 10-page fundraising letter. And people accuse me of being long-winded. Paul Mero, president of The Sutherland Institute, may have set a new length record in his plea for Utahns to contribute $100 to join the Sutherland 100 Club – only $10 per page of his letter.

Kidding aside, it's a persuasive letter, outlining the transformation of what was a narrow, right-wing think tank to a more open-minded, non-confrontational community organization adhering to a core set of principles (outlined by Board Chairman Gaylord Swim), but “transcending politics as usual” in advocating those principles.

The letter quotes Board President Jim Jenkins as saying, “We . . . will hold strong views, but we will not contend. We will welcome expressions of opposing views and try to learn from them. We will listen. We will form partnerships with citizens and organizations from all over the political spectrum . . .”

In other words, this is a new, high-minded, kinder, gentler Sutherland Institute – with an ambitious conservative (although the letter never uses the word “conservative”) political agenda. And if all this sounds a little squishy, it probably is. Pursuing a dozen or so pieces of legislation as Sutherland intends to do, while staying high-minded and not descending into “politics as usual,” is rather tricky and idealistic. Sort of, “We'd really like you to vote for this legislation, but if you don't we'll sure still like you.” Can you do politics without the fight?

Besides promoting legislation, Sutherland intends to train elected officials, hold a variety of programs and events, organize Community Solutions Councils, and hold campaigns and elections workshops. You can real a lot more about Sutherland at www.sutherlandinstitute.org. I may send a hundred bucks just to reward Mero for writing a 10-page fundraising letter. We long-winded writers have to stick together.

Life After Politics

With the primary election over, some of the losing candidates can look forward to their obvious next assignment (I'll spell it out so you don't have to say it) : m-i-s-s-i-o-n p-r-e-s-i-d-e-n-t . Sure, we need separation of church and state, but not separation of church and losing candidate. Yes, there is life after politics. Trouble is, it's in Albania. Three years is plenty of time to lick one's wounds. Running a frenzied campaign is dandy preparation for riding herd on 200 19-year-olds. Besides, it's a good way for the LDS Church to demonstrate that you CAN be an active Democrat and an active Mormon (think Gunn McKay, Wayne Owens, Kem Gardner). So, Nolan Karras, Jim Hansen, Fred Lampropoulos, Parley Hellewell, Marty Stephens, and Myron and Olene Walker, watch out for that caller ID prefix 240-.

- LaVarr Webb

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Electronic Voting

Yesterday, Utah elections officials issued an RFP for electronic voting systems. Proposals are due August 9.

Every state in the Union is struggling with the federal mandate to implement electronic voting. Utah's state and county elections officials have been justifiably concerned about the cost and security of such systems. They are proceeding at a deliberate pace. Electronic voting has been a highly charged debate, with accusations of fraud, security holes and more. With years of experience in the technology industry, I have been concerned.

On Sunday, CBS Sunday Morning will air a report on touchscreen voting machines by New York Times columnist David Pogue. Pogue's weekly Circuits column offers a reasoned assessment of the arguments by each side. He will elaborate in his next two columns. Circuits is distributed by email; to sign up, click here.

- Bart Barker