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Note: Policy Daily is taking the rest of the week off. Next edition will be Monday, Nov. 29, and we’ll catch up on all the headline links, Thursday through Monday, in that edition.
News Highlights
Gov. Walker's tax reform plan involves putting dozens of popular sales tax
exemptions on the chopping block (Salt Lake Tribune).
Deseret Morning News
and Daily Herald editorials say the Legislature
should give the plan a fair hearing.
Standard-Examiner editorial says that Davis and Weber voters thought too many tax-hike proposals were on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Quote of the Day
“Even before being sworn in, (Jon) Huntsman went to City Hall on Tuesday for a meeting with (Rocky) Anderson — the mayor's first ever sit down with the state's governor-elect. Observers say Tuesday's meeting may spell a new season of coziness between the governor and mayor...”
- Deseret Morning News story by Brady Snyder on new gubernatorial-mayoral relations.
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Wednesday
Buzz
Compiled
and Written by LaVarr Webb |
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Be Grateful
Have a great Thanksgiving, and drive safely to grandma’s house. Here’s a link to a touching USA Today story that helps put our blessings in perspective. And an excerpt from today’s KSL Editorial by Duane Cardall:
“As Americans have done since the very inception of the nation, it is appropriate, as George Washington initially proclaimed in 1789, ‘to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.’ There is much for which to be grateful. Despite the challenge of an ongoing war and the bitterness of a prolonged campaign season, America remains a resilient nation blessed with extraordinary abundance. Food and shelter, generally, are plentiful. There is water to drink, clothing to wear and work to do. If anything, the focus of American consumption is on luxuries and extravagances rather than life’s basic necessities. Liberty remains enshrined and assaults on freedom continue to be rebuffed. Indeed, life for most Americans proceeds routinely with uncanny calm. As our first president urged 215 years ago, may we ‘all unite in rendering unto (Almighty God) our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country.'"
New Blog Entries on Tax Reform
Rep. Steven Mascaro and former Rep. Craig Call have posted interesting and provocative blog messages regarding Gov. Walker’s tax reform proposal and education funding. Check them out at www.utahpolicy.com. We encourage our volunteer policymaker bloggers to send in their own blogs on policy issues. Just e-mail your comments to daily@utahpolicy.com.
For timid bloggers who are still a little fearful of jumping into this new communications medium, read the Monday blog entry by Paul Allen, a Utah Internet entrepreneur (founder of MyFamily.com and Infobases), who is very much enjoying his blogging experience. Paul’s blog entry will give you an idea of some of the satisfaction that comes with blogging.
Capitol Accommodations
I received a couple of responses to the Monday Policy Daily piece about tight accommodations at the Legislature. One was from Tom Warne www.tomwarne.com, a transportation consultant and former UDOT director, who agreed that the new legislative offices are going to change how business is conducted on the Hill. Tom formerly worked in Arizona and he said there it was very difficult for the public to have any contact with lawmakers who could stay entirely out of public places at the Capitol. Some lawmakers would even enter committee rooms without passing through public areas.
While lobbyists may find ways around this situation, it is the representatives of state agencies who will find it difficult to get access to key legislators, Tom said. “The agency heads and other key staff who will spend time on the Hill are going to find it very challenging to do their jobs now. Utah formerly had very open access, but the new facilities have gone a long way to closing that process. That’s not a good thing nor is it in the public’s interest.”
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2nd District Race Analysis
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Nicole Duran, from Roll Call, a D.C. newspaper covering Congress, has written an in-depth article on Utah’s 2nd Congressional District race. She was nice enough to forward the finished story, reproduced below. The story is posted here, but a subscription is required. For subscription information click here.
Matheson’s Victory Margin Tough for GOP to Swallow
November 22, 2004
By Nicole Duran, Roll Call Staff
Republicans scratching their heads over how Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) trounced his GOP opponent in the conservative 2nd district need to look at the advertisements former state Rep. John Swallow (R) and independent pro-Swallow groups ran, analysts say. “The key in this race was Swallow took a real negative approach in the advertising,” said Jay Evensen, editorial page editor for the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City. “We’ve seen time and again here in Utah that that kind of negative advertising does not work.”
Meanwhile, Matheson’s strong victory has some political observers wondering if he will challenge entrenched Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in 2006. The National Republican Congressional Committee spent about $1 million on mailers and TV and radio ads while numerous 527s jumped into the fray in this marquee rematch. Swallow lost to Matheson in 2002 by a mere 1,600 votes when the National Republican Congressional Committee largely left Swallow to his own devices. As this year’s campaign closed — which Swallow lost by 42,000 votes — national and state Republicans were pointing fingers and laying blame on one another. The state party disavowed controversial campaign literature and refused to mail the last two pieces, ostensibly produced by the NRCC. The NRCC, however, also declined to take responsibility for the mailers. “Some of the negative campaigning, particularly from the national Republican Party, did not sit well with a lot of individuals in the 2nd district,” said Rodney Decker, a political science professor at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. “Swallow tried to remove himself [from the controversy] but I’m not sure he did that successfully or credibly.” Bo Harmon, a spokesman for the NRCC, said he did not know how much the committee’s ads adversely affected Swallow. “People say they don’t like negative campaigning [in any race], so I don’t know what role that plays,” Harmon said.
Evensen said Republicans should have learned from 1990 when a newspaper ad backfired and helped propel Bill Orton (D) into the heavily Republican 3rd district seat. The ad seemed to mock Orton for being single, and many Utah County voters said it led them to vote for a Democrat for the first time ever. Some Republicans were similarly uncomfortable with Swallow’s campaign, observers concluded. Swallow claimed Matheson supported late-term abortions even though the Congressman voted for the so-called “partial birth” abortion ban. He also attacked Matheson for votes where he supported legislation backed by other Republicans and even President Bush. LaVarr Webb, a Utah Republican political consultant and lobbyist, had a blunt message for the NRCC in a column in the Deseret Morning News — “Memo to the NRCC: Stay the hell out of Utah. You don’t help, you hurt.”
Utahans’ apparent aversion to negative campaigning is not the only factor that led to Matheson’s win, however, experts agree. “Jim Matheson is very likeable,” said Dan Jones, an independent pollster and political science teacher at the University of Utah. “Second, he made the correct votes in Congress to pacify the moderates and keep his party in check, and third, he ran a smart campaign by going to those counties that would have normally voted very Republican.” Harmon conceded that Matheson’s incumbency was a big obstacle for Swallow to overcome. “It’s hard to beat an incumbent of any party,” Harmon said. “Not many incumbents lost this year. Regardless of the circumstances, Swallow ran a good, tough campaign, but Matheson was even more entrenched than he had been in his last election.” Decker said that was no accident. “Matheson established himself as a person who is interested in the people in the 2nd district by traveling to all parts of the district, even though they [all] didn’t support him,” he said.
Jones said the community still holds the two-term Congressman’s father, the late Gov. Scott Matheson (D), in high regard. Both Jones and Decker said Swallow’s protracted primary also wounded him and that his negatives went up after he narrowly bested venture capitalist Tim Bridgewater in a rerun of the 2002 GOP battle. “The primary took a pound of flesh” out of Swallow, Jones said. Decker said he thinks Bridgewater would have been a tougher challenger for Matheson. While Matheson ran a basically flawless campaign and Swallow and the Republicans made some tactical errors, no one is ready to say the seat is Matheson’s in perpetuity given how Republican the district votes. Evensen said there is “no question it’s still going to be a vulnerable seat in two years,” although Republicans have no obvious challenger yet. Overall, Matheson only won five of the 16 counties contained within the district — one of which was populous Salt Lake County — and 19 percent of his votes came from Republicans. Webb, however, saw warning signs for the GOP in this year’s election results and said that Hatch could have a tougher time in 2006 than people assume. Jones said talk has begun that perhaps Matheson is listening and might consider challenging Hatch. “What they’re already talking about now is can Matheson win statewide?” he said. “He’s already gone to 29 counties and really cleaned [Swallow’s] plow in Salt Lake County ... or does he enjoy the House and seniority?” Alyson Heyrend, a spokeswoman for Matheson, gave no hint that her boss is thinking ahead. “Congressman Matheson was very gratified by the margin of victory, and he is so looking forward to working as the Congressman for the 2nd district, and that’s all that’s on his mind right now,” she said. But Jones said that even though Hatch will be formidable, 2006 might be the best chance Democrats have to defeat him. The party in power generally loses seats in nonpresidential election years and Matheson’s star is looking pretty bright right now. “The question is, can a Democrat win statewide in Utah?” he said. If this year’s gubernatorial race, which Matheson’s brother Scott Matheson Jr. (D) lost, is any indication, the answer may be “no.” Decker said Jim Matheson may aspire to the Senate some day, but he doubts that ascension would come at the expense of Hatch. More likely, Matheson would wait until either Hatch or Sen. Bob Bennett (R) retires. “It would be difficult for him to win [against Hatch] and then he would lose that luster of invincibility,” Decker said. |
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Wednesday
November 24, 2004
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Please submit calendar items to Daily@UtahPolicy.com
- Nov 30: Energy Policy Task Force, 10 am, Rm W130, State Capitol.
- Nov 30: Administrative Rules Review Committee, 1 pm, Rm W025, State Capitol.
- Nov 30: Legal Concerns for Small Business Owners, 4pm, Chamber of Commerce Building, 175 E 400 S Suite 600, Salt Lake City. (SL Chamber calendar)
- Dec 2: Progressive Democratic Caucus Meeting, 6:30 pm to 8 pm, 455 South 300 East, Suite 102, Salt Lake City. Contact: Craig Axford 801-918-6017.
- Dec 2: Professional Republican Women's Holiday Luncheon and Tour at the Governor's Mansion, Noon, Reservations: dianney5@aol.com.
- Dec 4: Utah Republican Party Central Committee Meeting.
- Dec 7: Utah Log Cabin Republicans Monthly Meeting, 7:30 pm, Room N4010, Salt Lake County Building, 2001 S State Street, Salt Lake.
- Dec 9: Sutherland Institute seminar "Civic Stewardship – Applications in Determining Core Principles” 8:30-11:30 am, 6th Floor 150 E Social Hall Ave, Salt Lake City. Register: 801-355-1272.
- Dec 11: Davis County Democrats No-Host Breakfast, 8:30 am to 10 am, Joanie's Restaurant, 286 N 400 W, Kaysville. Contact: Richard Watson 801-292-6772.
- Dec 14: Sutherland Institute presents “A Call To Action” including pressbriefing highlighting 2005 legislative agenda, open house, and presentationby Sutherland Institute President Paul T. Mero. Contact: Lisa 801-355-1272.
- Dec 28: Green Party of Utah Roots Local Monthly Meeting, 12 pm, Sprague Library, 1100 E, just past 2100 S, Salt Lake City. Contact: 801-486-2558.
- Jan 3: Gubernatorial Inauguration.
- Jan 17: 2005 legislative session begins.
- Jan 20: Presidential Inauguration.
- Feb 5: Annual Green Party of Utah Convention, 10 am to 2 pm, Anderson-Foothill Library, 1135 E 2100 S, Salt Lake City.
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Elected Officials Birthdays
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Rep. Jeff Alexander, District 62, November 28
Rep. Jack A. Seitz, District 55, December 25
Entire
Birthday List
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