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The Week Ahead
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. will speak at the Hinckley Institute of Politics, Friday, April 1, 5 p.m., 255 Orson Spencer Hall. It’s interesting that perhaps the best example of the fact that you can be a Democrat and a Mormon comes not out of Utah, but out of Nevada. A lot of Utah Mormons can’t decide whether to like the guy because he’s a Mormon or dislike him because he’s chief obstructionist to President Bush’s priorities.
On Wednesday, the state will conduct a public test of four voting machines that are vying for the contract to handle Utah's election needs. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the South Towne Mall, anyone of voting age will be allowed to take the machines for a test drive, participate in a mock election and leave comments and impressions behind for state officials to consider. (See Morning News editorial on the subject.)
Utah’s First High-Tech Candidate?
Prospective U.S. Senate candidate Pete Ashdown has a bare bones Web site up. It doesn’t announce he’s running and doesn’t say anything about his background, but it does have a full-length photo of himself and his positions on a few issues.
Ashdown is apparently going to ease his way into the campaign by holding on-line chats, beginning this Thursday, March 31, 8 p.m. He will continue every Thursday (except for vacation days April 7 and April 14). Go to his Web site for the chat information.
Ashdown is well-known in the high-tech world. His business provides Internet access and builds full-featured Web sites. So with his technical and Internet expertise, he may have the opportunity to run the most technologically-advanced campaign ever in Utah. Will he use the tools of the Internet effectively? He’s already doing chat. On-line fundraising is another big opportunity. John Kerry raised more than $80 million on-line. MoveOn.org became powerful because it raised funds and reinvented grassroots activism over the Web.
Ashdown could use viral E-mail campaigns; use Web tools for campaign management and organization; send campaign alerts, electronic post cards and newsletters over the Web; use meetup.com for grassroots meeting coordination; tap into social networking, on-line petitions and surveys; use Web logs to get his messages out; use sophisticated data warehousing and data mining tools to target voters and demographic groups; and use Web-based automated voice broadcasts to deliver messages.
Technology won’t win it for him. He still has to be a terrific candidate who connects with people. But a good candidate using the latest political tools will beat a good candidate doing things the old-fashioned way.
Weekend Advocacy Advertising
Two large political advocacy ads appeared in the Salt Lake newspapers on Sunday, one an open letter to Gov. Jon Huntsman from conservation groups and businesses, and the other calling on Utah congressmen to oppose federal credit union legislation.
Some 100 business owners, conservation groups and individuals published a full-color, full-page “open letter” ad expressing concern about state actions that they said threaten Utah’s wild places and spectacular landscapes. Among concerns cited were the state’s legal challenge to creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the state’s involvement in lawsuits “to turn phantom ‘roads’ and jeep tracks into highway rights-of-way,” and state lawyers pressuring federal land managers “to minimize protection of Utah’s most magnificent, undeveloped wild places.”
“We hope you recognize that these actions threaten some of the most magnificent landscapes on earth – landscapes which also contribute significantly to a vibrant economy in Utah,” says the letter to Huntsman. “Taxpayer money should not be spent in efforts that undercut both the beauty and the long-term prosperity of our unique state.”
The credit union ad was placed by the Utah Taxpayers Association, which opposes the Credit Union Regulatory Improvement Act (CURIA), a proposed federal law that would expand commercial lending authority of credit unions. The ad says:
“Due to their tax-exempt status, credit unions already have an unfair advantage in consumer loans. And now CURIA would nearly double the commercial lending ability of credit unions. By allowing credit unions to have nearly identical lending authority as any other type of financial institution while still keeping them tax-exempt, CURIA will make the playing field for financial services even more uneven. The Utah Taxpayers Association opposes CURIA based on its longstanding position of uniform tax treatment; we believe taxes and regulations should apply equally to all competitors.” The ad says CURIA is “completely contrary to the policy set forth by Utah’s Legislature.” It also quotes former President Ronald Reagan, who said: “In an economy based on free market principles, the tax system should not provide a competitive advantage for particular commercial enterprises. These arguments apply with particular force to large credit unions.”
Final Word
Someone in Washington, D.C., who shall remain anonymous, sent this to me from The Onion, a satirical news site. I don’t know if it’s funny or not, but here it is:
EPA To Drop 'E,' 'P' From Name
WASHINGTON, DC—Days after unveiling new power-plant pollution regulations that rely on an industry-favored market-trading approach to cutting mercury emissions, EPA Acting Administrator Stephen Johnson announced that the agency will remove the "E" and "P" from its name.
"We're not really 'environmental' anymore, and we certainly aren't 'protecting' anything," Johnson said. "'The Agency' is a name that reflects our current agenda and encapsulates our new function as a government-funded body devoted to handling documents, scheduling meetings, and fielding phone calls." The change comes on the heels of the Department of Health and Human Services' January decision to shorten its name to the Department of Services.
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