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Advice to New Legislators
New lawmakers get plenty of advice from a variety of sources. Here are two simple suggestions from me.
1. Pick your priorities and focus on them. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Civic-minded people have a tendency to want to right every wrong and fight every evil. You can’t do it all, and you won’t be effective if you try. You will also neglect other important priorities like family and profession. So choose your targets. Specialize in a few areas. Don’t run too many bills. Try to understand the legislation and you’re voting on and the budget decisions you’re making, but don’t try to be the expert or leader on very many issues, despite the temptation to jump in.
2. Communicate with your constituents. Don’t take them for granted or assume they’ll vote for you in the future because they have in the past. It’s amazing how complacent and neglectful some elected officials become. They think because they have important positions and get their name in the paper, everyone loves them and will return them to office term after term. Here’s the reality: most of your constituents don’t know who you are and couldn’t name you if asked who their legislator is. They’re not reading the newspapers and even if they voted for you in the past, their attitude is: “What have you done for me lately?” You will always be vulnerable to an aggressive challenger who works hard and has the right message. So never stop campaigning. Communicate with your voters. Hold town meetings. Produce a newsletter. Direct voters to your web site or blog. Hold cottage meetings. Give speeches to service clubs, chambers of commerce, etc. Divide your constituents into three groups:
- Opinion Leaders (business leaders, ecclesiastical leaders, other officials like mayors, city council members, planning commission members, neighborhood leaders, etc.). Make a list of them and communicate/meet one-on-one and in small groups with them as often as possible. Go to lunch, stop by their office, let them know what you’re doing and ask for their suggestions and advice.
- Political Activists. These are your constituents who attend party caucus meetings, who are precinct officers, who are delegates to state and county conventions and who are neighborhood activists. Make a list of them and meet with them on a regular basis, preferably in small groups. Call them on the phone. Listen to them.
- Active Voters/Registered Voters. You can obtain a list of all active voters (those who have voted in the last couple of elections, especially in primary elections) if you learn how to sort the voter file. Send them a regular newsletter or letter. Invite them to town meetings and events. Get their e-mail addresses and send them updates. Let them know you’re listening and you care.
Some legislators get elected and forget about their constituents until it’s time to run again. Don’t fall into that trap. Campaign year-round.
'07 State of the County Address
The Salt Lake County website has posted a transcript of Mayor Peter Corroon's 2007 State of the County speech, which he delivered yesterday morning.
Media Watch
Mullen Still Writing
Former Tribune columnist Holly Mullen joins the ranks of bloggers with several posts at Mullentown (see also Blog Watch below). She is a liberal, a pacifist, and favors gun control. So read The Hunter, a post about her son who loves to hunt and shoot.
Washington Watch
Hatch Works with Obama, Cantwell
Sen. Orrin Hatch announces that "he will work with Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to develop bipartisan legislation to advance plug-in hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles. Hatch is the author of a 2005 law providing tax incentives for hybrid-electric and alternative-fuel vehicles" (see press release); Hatch says he would be against a proposed resolution objecting to President Bush's plan to add more troops to Iraq: "I don't think we should be undermining what the president is trying to do at a time that is crucial to our troops" (The Hill).
Matheson to Offer Reelection Advice
Rep. Jim Matheson to advise vulnerable congressional Democrats on how to win reelection as part of a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "mentoring program" (The Hill).
Wise Words
“Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.”
-- Plato (Source: the Quote Garden)
Blog Watch
Holly Mullen says: "It's a charge I heard so often as a newspaper journalist, I could recite it in my sleep. And it usually came from the mouths of politicians. Reporters, they said, are cynics. Always looking for the worst in human nature, always waiting for misfortune, trying to be glib and smart. Well, the 'Tax Me More' bill introduced this week by Rep. Greg Hughes, a Draper Republican, takes the grand prize for cynicism. Hughes favors a $400 million tax cut for Utahns, based on our whopping projected $1.6 billion budget surplus. Polls consistently show that more than 37 percent of Utahns would reject a tax cut if it meant more money going directly to schools and transit. So in the best tradition of a legislative 'screw you,' Hughes has come up with this sorry proposal. ... Now Hughes and his pals who agree with him can go off and hack away at the tax base, while simultaneously claiming they gave constituents their chance to use tax money the way they wanted. No hard choices for this guy. He'll leave it up to taxpayers. It's glib. It's sophomoric. It's unbelievable, really. Now just who is the real cynic here?" (for more Legislature-related posts, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).... The Senate Site reports: "From December 2005 to December 2006, the population of the State of Utah grew by 2.7%. Total employment in the state grew 4.7%. This sheet shows that the number of people employed by state government only grew 1.88%. Bottom line: Your state government is shrinking as a percentage of the total Utah workforce and as a segment of the population as a whole".... Utah Taxpayer addresses the "anti-[school] voucher argument du jour," which "claims that vouchers are unfair because childless families and individuals will not receive vouchers".... IMAO posts a list of "fun facts about Utah".... At Out of Context, Robert Gehrke notes: "The AP is reporting the passing of E. Howard Hunt, who helped organize the 1972 break-in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, which eventually brought down President Nixon. At the time, Hunt was working for one Robert F. Bennett, who was president of Robert Mullen Associates, a cover organization for the CIA. Bennett's connections with Hunt and the White House prompted some to speculate that the future senator was Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's ballyhooed source, Deep Throat. Bennett denied it for years, and, of course, in 2005 former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt was unmasked as the true source. Bennett's big mistake through the whole thing, he has said in the past, was trusting Hunt too long".... The Politico reports: "Sources inside former Gov. Mitt Romney's camp tell The Politico that they've picked up yet another major Washington endorsement: former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. The Illinoisan is set to publicly endorse Romney ... Romney has cultivated the congressional wing of the GOP in an effort to cast himself as the consensus alternative to Sen. John McCain. Although the former Speaker is now just a rank-and-file member of the House, his support of Romney is a strong indicator of where much of the anti-McCain Republican establishment is headed. Also helpful to Team Mitt, Hastert still retains significant goodwill within the House GOP Conference and will serve as an effective surrogate before members" (see also here, here, here, and here).
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