Becker Energized About Mayorship
I had lunch Tuesday with House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, who is making the rounds, visiting with a variety of people about his plans to run for Salt Lake City mayor next year. He appears fully committed to running.
Becker is also seeking re-election to the House this year, and he said he’s having a great time walking his district and meeting with constituents. He is wearing out a lot of shoe leather. His district covers a lot of the Avenues and the downtown area.
Reconnecting with a good chunk of city voters this year will provide an advantage with those same voters next year, who don’t seem to mind that if he wins re-election he will immediately start campaigning for mayor. If he loses the mayoral bid he will still have his House seat.
Becker recently merged his business with another firm, and part of the deal was that he could take the next year off. So he will have the luxury of campaigning nearly full time.
With other solid candidates in the race like City Council member Dave Buhler, County Council member Jenny Wilson, former City Council member Keith Christensen, plus others, the mayoral race next year will keep political junkies occupied.
National Politics
Online Campaigning
Interesting Time magazine article (Oct. 2 edition) on the limits of on-line campaigning. Perhaps the Democratic Netroots juggernaut isn’t as powerful as has been portrayed by conventional wisdom. Clearly, the liberal bloggers like Daily Kos and Internet-based organizations like MoveOn.org are having an impact. They helped knock off moderate Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman. But, concludes the article: “If the Democrats win in the fall elections, the roots of that victory will not be on the Net.”
Focus on War Hurts GOP
Election analyst Charlie Cook in his weekly NationalJournal.com column says, “If Republicans can replicate the environment of the past six weeks, their chances of holding onto their House majority are pretty good, and they will almost certainly retain their Senate majority. But if the spotlight shifts away from terrorism and declining gasoline prices and back onto the war in Iraq, where it was before, the House very likely goes back to the Democrats and the Senate gets much dicier.”
Media Watch
Trouble Ahead for Newspapers?
In an insightful Time magazine column (Oct. 2 edition), Michael Kinsley asks, “Do newspapers have a future?” His conclusion: “Newspapers on paper are on the way out. Whether newspaper companies are on the way out too depends. Some of them are going to find the answers. And some are going to fritter away the years quarreling about staff cuts.” He notes that subscription fees paid by newspaper subscribers don’t pay for much more than the paper the news is printed on. “So in theory, giving away the news without the paper looks like a good deal for newspapers, if they can keep the advertising.”
Blog Watch
At the House Democratic Caucus blog, Rep. Ralph Becker says: "We know that Democrats in Utah battle ridiculous (but successful) Republican labeling. We Democrats also know how to campaign the right way -- the shoe-worn path that will lead to excellent representation. Every night and Saturday, as I walk door-to-door in my neighborhoods I'm encouraged and energized by our Utah citizens. They aren't fooled by the spinning ways of the Republican hegemony. They may be frustrated with the Republican style of back-room dealmaking and desire to create distance between the citizens and elected officials by limiting access in the hall of Capitol Hill, but they appreciate our Democratic candidates coming to the doorsteps asking for consituent opinions. Let's hope this year people rise up and vote for Democratic representation -- starting with listening, applying knowledge we learn from experts and common sense, and ending with good decisions for the people of Utah -- for today and our future"... In an interview with Utah Taxpayer, Rep. Greg Hughes says of Utah transportation reform: "We need to make sure that transportation is adequately funded because economic development depends in large part on the viability of our transportation infrastructure. However, I am opposed to simply throwing money at the problem, and that's where transportation reform comes in. In the recent general session, I worked with my legislative colleagues to require side-by-side prioritization of road and transit projects. Prioritization will be based on cost-effectiveness of reducing congestion. We should have done this years ago. I also successfully fought for increased funding for corridor preservation. We can save a lot of money by buying up road corridors now before residential and commercial development encroaches on these corridors. This is also something we should have been aggressively pursuing years ago"... In the comments section of this Phil Windley post at Utah Politics, KVNU's Tom Grover says: "The Mormon blogosphere has a unique name, the 'Bloggernacle' that identifies it's distinct boundary and separation as a community and subset of the larger blogosphere. Couldn't we come up with a name for Utah political blogging community other than the ubiquitous 'blogosphere'? How about the 'Bloghive'? What do you all think? Any other suggestions?"... At Out of Context, Robert Gehrke reports: "Mitt Romney's prospects on becoming the first Mormon president have received a lot of ink. But Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd has said he's considering an '08 White House run. That means his wife, Jackie Clegg, could become the country's first Mormon First Lady. (Easy polygamy joke of the day: Who knows when there might be a Mormon Second Lady or Third Lady?) According to an item in The Hill, a Washington newspaper that covers Congress, Utah Sen. Bob Bennett recently told a story about how Dodd joked that 'At Bob Jones University, we are now a two-cult family.' Bob Jones is a flagship school for evangelicals, some of whom consider Mormons and Catholics, like Dodd, to be cultists" (see also here, here, here, here, here, and here).
Reader Response
Dropout Rate is Big Concern
UPD reader Richard Maxfield, who has been involved in education reform for many years, wrote: “High school dropouts portend major social and economic problems in the future. It is not hard to predict higher crime rates, social class resentments, and state economic handicaps from the 40+ percent dropout rate and the huge ratio of boys to girls dropping out. It is clear that our public schools need a new delivery structure to meet needs of disadvantaged populations that utilize a different approach to learning including shorter attention spans and less tolerance with the operational policies of schools. Please add this issue to the list of current and emerging issues.”
Global Economy Strong
Utah economist Jeff Thredgold’s latest Tea Leaf weekly economic update focuses on the solid international economy and the likelihood of continued strength. A strong global economy benefits the United States. He also suggests a compromise in the controversy over the “death tax.”
Thredgold ends with a joke: “A mother and daughter were walking through a cemetery and passed a headstone inscribed, ‘Here lies a good economist and an honest man.’ The little girl read the headstone, looked up at her mother, and asked, ‘Mommy, why did they bury two people here?’”
Washington Watch
Matheson: Progress on Land-Swap
Rep. Jim Matheson says, "House passage of a bipartisan land exchange between the Utah school trust land administration and the Bureau of Land Management is a 'sign of substantial progress' after a past controversial land exchange proposal held up the process.” Matheson is a cosponsor of the bill (see press release); Matheson votes "for compromise legislation that provides for the prosecution of suspected terrorists within a framework that prohibits torture and affords important legal rights to the accused" (press release).
|
