Washington Watch
Hatch Supports FRESH Act
Sen. Orrin Hatch announces "his support for the Farm Ranch Equity Stewardship and Health Act of 2007 (FRESH Act), a measure proposed by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and others as an alternative to the Farm Bill currently before Congress. As the Senate begins consideration of future agriculture policy, Hatch believes the FRESH Act is better for both Utah and the nation as it would more fairly distribute federal support to all farmers" (see press release).
Cannon Staffers Profiled
The Hill profiles two new members of Rep. Chris Cannon's legislative staff.
Abraham Lincoln and the Mormons
Lincoln checked out the Book of Mormon from the Library of Congress, returning it after eight months. As a young legislator in Illinois, Lincoln helped get the Nauvoo Charter approved, giving immense power and independence to the city of Nauvoo. Lincoln boasted to friends, “Joseph Smith is an admirer of mine.” (From Mike Winder’s Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America’s Presidents and the LDS Church)
Today in Political History
October 24, 1929: The stock market crashes, leading to a deeper crash on Oct. 29, and eventually to the Great Depression.
October 24, 1940: The 40-hour work week goes into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act. (Source: Perspicuity)
October 24, 1952: Dwight D. Eisenhower, running as the Republican presidential candidate, declares: “I shall go to Korea” as he promises to end the conflict. (Source: NBC5)
Wise Words
“Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels -- men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower (Source: Brainy Quote)
Campaign Tip
Targeting Voters Wins Elections
By Joseph Mercurio
Targeting voters is a way to use resources most efficiently. It will help you bring your voters to the polls, and facilitate communicating to voters a message that will persuade them. Done properly, targeting can make the difference in closely contested races.
To start, you must have data telling you who is going to vote in your election and which of those voters make up your base vote and your opponent’s base. The first thing you notice when you look at election data is that presidential years have higher turnout, local races lower turnout, open seats (no incumbent holding the office) have higher turnout, up-ballot races usually have higher turnout than down-ballot races and genuinely contested races have higher turnout than normal. It is also true that often race, ethnicity, religion and geography effect turnout.
If you look back at past elections, there will be certain elections where there is a bad candidate or other factors and there will be a minimum that a candidate will get: this is the base vote. Both sides will have a base vote in each election district, the smallest political district. Once you know the base, you can find out what they look like demographically to help find like voters. This can work as easily for black urban voters as it would for rural dairy farmers. Groups like environmentalists, labor union members and other groups can also be targeted to add to the base vote. (Read the entire tip at Political Resources)
National Politics
Best Stories From …
-- The Hill: "Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) apologized to the House Tuesday for controversial comments he made about the Iraq war, following an unsuccessful attempt by House Republican leaders to publicly censure the 18-term lawmaker. 'I want to apologize to my colleagues -- many of whom I have offended -- to the president and his family and to the troops,' Stark said."
-- National Journal: Columnist Charlie Cook says both Republicans and Democrats recently cast votes in the House that could cost their parties in 2008.
-- New York Post: Columnist Pete Hegseth says Gen. David Petraeus' "new counterinsurgency approach -- namely, to take territory from al Qaeda, hold it, secure it and empower tribal sheiks to work together and rebuild their communities -- [is finally providing] an effective 'counteroffensive' to the chief tactics of al Qaeda militants and Shiite death squads" in Iraq.
-- Washington Post: "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton may have a widening lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but John Edwards is not about to give her a free ride."
Voucher Experts to Visit Utah
The Sutherland Institute is holding a press conference on Thursday with two school voucher experts (Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Jason Fields and Rebeca Nieves Huffman, president and CEO of Hispanic CREO) at 2 p.m. in its offices at the Crane Building (307 West 200 South, Suite 5005, Salt Lake City). Says Sutherland public relations manager Katie Christensen: "This press conference represents an important educational opportunity for Utahns as they seek understanding regarding the state’s voucher policy. These experts have either seen vouchers work in their own backyard or participated in the legal debate regarding this controversial policy" (see press release).
Blog Watch
-- Rep. John Dougall says of this Trib story about Rep. Jim Matheson's opposition to vouchers: "Congressman, are you really calling for BYU and its students to be stripped of all taxpayer grants, vouchers, and other school funding? No more student Pell Grants? No more taxpayer subsidized student loans (didn't you just support their expansion)? No more military-paid tuition as part of the G.I. Bill? No more federal research funding? Congressman, are you really saying that 'it's a bad idea to use public money to spend on private academies' -- private academies like BYU, Notre Dame, Harvard, Stanford, and MIT to name a few? You're probably right. It's a bad investment. I look forward to you sponsoring the repeal of those benefits. That is, if you are really serious. Otherwise you're just blowing smoke?" (For more on the voucher issue, see Pete Ashdown, Steve Urquhart, Millard Fillmore's Bathtub, and COL Takashi.)
-- Frank Staheli compares the recent talks delivered at BYU by Sen. Harry Reid and Chief Justice John Roberts.
Lighter Side
“Well, I’d have to say it’s the privilege of serving with David Souter.”
-- Supreme Court Justice David Souter, after a stranger mistook him for Justice Stephen Breyer and asked what he liked best about the court. (Campaigns & Elections magazine) |
