Hot Political Summer Ahead
This summer isn’t going to be slow for politics. The Supreme Court confirmation battle is going to be epic -- as intense, almost, as a presidential race. Locally, we have some fascinating dynamics in the U.S. Senate race. Soon, municipal races are going to heat up, and by fall incumbents and challengers at all levels will be organizing for the party caucuses in early spring.
The partisans in the Supreme Court battle are expected to spend some $100 million in advertising. This will be the first confirmation fight in which the Internet will be used as a major tool for fundraising, organizing, communications and grassroots lobbying. MoveOn.org, an Internet-based liberal advocacy group whose mission is to destroy President Bush, is going into full battle mode over the Supreme Court confirmation.
Unfortunately, most of the voices heard in this fight will be those on the fringes, both left and right. The left has Moveon.org and a lot of liberal bloggers, columnists and editorial writers. The right has talk radio stars, evangelical groups and direct mail gurus. So the fringe groups will be screaming at each other, while those in the moderate middle won’t have much of a voice, and no matter who is nominated, that person will be demonized.
Reader Response
Restoring Rangelands
Don Peay, Sportsmen for Fish & Wildlife: “As a follow up to your mention of (Steve) Urquhart’s post on Rangelands, here is an idea: After years of inactive public land management, drought, and invasion of non-native species, Utah’s rangelands and watersheds are in dire condition. The Utah DNR along with Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife have worked diligently to make rangeland restoration efforts a priority with Federal land agencies. Numerous meetings have been held with BLM Director Kathleen Clarke – former Utah DNR Director. This year, the Utah legislature allocated $2 million, and these funds have been matched with an additional $6 million state and private funds. A total of 125,000 acres of rangelands and watersheds are scheduled for treatment this year. This kind of effort will be required for many years to maintain productive rangelands and watersheds.” Healthy rangelands and watershed mean sound economic activities for the ranching, hunting, oil and gas and mineral exploration industries in rural Utah. It also means clean and abundant drinking water, and diversified plant and wildlife species for Utah’s people to enjoy. This issue should deserve some press – it is important to Utah’s entire landscape.”
People Watch
Bart Barker, who worked for some time as a consultant with the Exoro Group, recently joined the George S. May International Company, a large management consulting firm. Bart helped set up the technology solutions for Utah Policy Daily and is a whiz at both business management and the use of advanced technology. He can be contacted at mail@bartbarker.com or 801-979-1099. . . . Additional nomination for political power couple: Mark and Carrie Towner. He is a lobbyist, past candidate for GOP leadership, and campaign IT support specialist. She is former candidate for U.S. Congress and a party leader.
Washington Watch
Hatch/Schumer Collaborate
Sens. Orrin Hatch and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. are sponsoring a bill to set up a national sex-offender registry, reports the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
The bill would plug loopholes in current sex-offender-registration laws.
Meanwhile, a syndicated story in the Seattle Times
about Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-PA, names Orrin Hatch as one of the most powerful senators in Washington.
Tough Decision for Romney
Now that Massachusetts lawmakers have passed legislation making the morning-after pill freely available without a prescription, Gov. Mitt Romney faces a difficult decision on an issue conservatives link to abortion, says the Boston Globe. Since both chambers passed the legislation by veto-proof margins, it will most certainly withstand a Romney veto.
School Choice Watch
Phoenix News calls 2005 “the best legislative year yet for the national school choice movement,” while an AP story in The Buffalo News says “Ohio is more than tripling the size of its school voucher program, making it the nation's largest since the practice of using public money for private school tuition was found constitutional three years ago.”
Communications Tip
Three Key Audiences
Any candidate or elected official needs to communicate frequently with three key audiences:
Lists of all three audiences should be kept and updated. Interaction with the first two groups should be made in person as much as is practical. All three groups should receive letters, e-mail messages, newsletters, constituent updates, etc., as often as possible.
|
Utah
Policy Daily is a service