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Celebrating the LaVar Awards
Utah Policy Daily on Tuesday missed linking to the Tribune’s annual feature poking fun at legislators, the “LaVar Awards” because it was buried deep inside the Tribune web site in the Health & Science section. Anyway, the column by Culture Vulture Brandon Griggs recognizes various legislators in flattering and not-so-flattering categories. Don’t take it too seriously, “It’s all in good fun,” says Tribune Government Editor Dan Harrie. I don’t know if the awards are named after me (minus one r) or Rep. LaVar Christensen, but we’ll share the ignominiousness (is that a word?) of the honor. By the way, when is the awards ceremony? I want to see legislators arriving in limousines and wearing tuxes and sexy evening gowns.
New Regional On-Line Publication
John Yewell, a Salt Lake-based writer who frequently publishes essays in the Tribune, is involved in an ambitious new on-line magazine called NewWest.net. Here’s an e-mail message from him:
“I just wanted to let you know that we are up and running. A story about the magazine appeared in Sunday's Denver Post.
"NewWest is a cross between a blog and old-fashioned MSM. We have an editorial structure, unlike most blogs, through which we post stories and ‘add value’ to other stories we find on the Web. We want to invite bloggers to our site and participate in NewWest's comment format, where we invite people to talk about and debate the news.
“NewWest was mentioned on Bill Romenesko's media news site (scroll down). Our Front Page can be found here: Our Salt Lake City page is here."
Searching For Mr. Right
Here is yesterday’s e-mail column by National Journal’s Charlie Cook (subscribe here)
on the 2008 race for the GOP presidential nomination:
This week's meeting of the National Governors Association is fanning the flames of 2008 presidential race talk, with no fewer than three state chief executives from each party being prominently mentioned as potential candidates. The fact that no sitting senator or congressman has been elected president in more than four decades probably has something to do with it.
While the conventions are more than three years away, here is an early look at potential candidates on the Republican side.
Notwithstanding the far-fetched talk of Vice President Dick Cheney or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice deciding to run, there is still a large field of wannabes and highly touted possibilities. Among those mentioned most prominently are Sens. George Allen of Virginia, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, John McCain of Arizona, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Majority Leader Bill Frist; Govs. George Pataki of New York, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Mark Sanford of South Carolina; former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Speaker Newt Gingrich.
A national poll might put Giuliani or McCain at the top, followed by Frist, with everyone else in single digits. But this is hardly a three-man race.
While there is no question Giuliani was an amazingly effective surrogate for President Bush and GOP candidates in every corner of the country, it's pretty difficult to imagine that a pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights candidate is going to win the Republican presidential nomination any time soon, no matter how inspirational or charismatic he might be.
And while there is no doubt McCain would be a huge force in the race, it is not yet clear whether he will run. McCain would be 72 years old at the time of the 2009 inauguration -- three years older than Ronald Reagan was when he was sworn in. Clearly, he would like to run and is doing everything a potential candidate should be doing. Will he run? And if he does, will the party establishment embrace this naturally born maverick?
Then there is Frist, as bright a figure as there is on the national political scene, who will be finishing up his last two years in the Senate as majority leader. While he will be free of the Senate for a possible run, probably a plus, his challenge is to demonstrate that he is as talented a candidate as he is in a cardiac operating room. But Frist is one of the most pedantic speakers in national politics, and it's not uncommon to hear snoring in the room as he wraps up a speech. While he will be able to raise a ton of money, he must change his speaking style enormously if he is to have a shot of capturing the nomination.
The point is that while any one of the three is perfectly capable of winning the nomination, none is a true favorite to do so.
Allen, fresh off of a highly successful tour as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is, perhaps after Giuliani, the most gifted speaker and natural campaigner in the bunch, but can he raise enormous amounts of money in a race in which the ante is expected to start at $15 million? Will he drag himself to New York City and elsewhere repeatedly to find the money he needs? Allen has a folksy way of connecting with voters that is reminiscent to some of Reagan, so don't underestimate his political talents.
Santorum must first beat back what is expected to be an aggressive challenge for his Senate seat in a state that both Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., won. But he would be a sentimental favorite for many of the most conservative elements of the GOP for the nomination. Brownback, considerably less well known than Santorum, would likely have a more difficult time raising money, but he would also be a favorite son for conservatives.
No doubt there will be a maverick candidate in the race, either McCain or Hagel. Both are very edgy in their appeal, but able to reach out to independent and moderate voters in a way that few of the others, save Giuliani, can.
Who will be the governor in this mix? Empire State voters appear to be tiring of him, and it's difficult to see Pataki's appeal extending beyond the Hudson River. South Carolina is expected to be a pivotal early primary, but would it mean much for Sanford, who is not widely known outside his home state, to win there? Romney is the governor getting the most attention, although the idea of a Massachusetts Mormon, with a clouded position on abortion, confuses his prospects tremendously. No one seems quite sure what to make of him.
That leaves Gingrich. Tossing his name into the mix might just be a ploy to help him sell books, but in a wide-open race, it's not hard to seem in the top tier of candidates.
In short, this is a wide-open race, with far more questions about the candidates than there are answers at this stage. Stay tuned.
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