First of all, I did not get a chance to speak to a lot of the candidates before the convention, as I had one of my rough nights and arrived only about 20 minutes before it all got started. Therefore, I had to rely on my notes and the Republican Women hand out to make my choice on the party chair.
Second of all, I think that the facility in Layton is a good enough conference center for a smaller group than we had. The Salt Lake County delegation was put in the back of the room, for a change, but the amplification in the back of the room was missing. So the people in the back had trouble hearing. Only about 60 percent of the delegates showed, so some people were able to move forward. I wish the convention would have been held again at UVU, where the facilities are just about perfect if you bring your own lunch.
As a delegate, the most difficult decision for me was the choice for state party chair. Both Dave Hansen and Steve Harmson gave good speeches. Jared Law gave the biggest surprise by withdrawing his candidacy in his speech and endorsing Dave Hansen. Brain Jenkins is someone whose name shows up frequently, and did better than ususal. Hansen won the day. I am OK with Hansen.
Morgan Philpot won for vice chair, but there was something about his speech that bothered me. He said that he would rather stick by principle and loose than compromise and win. This attitude is partly why the Republicans have lost nationally. Politics is about compromise. It must be understood that a power in this country comes from the people. Conservative ideals are not dead, but at the end of the day, I want to win. I would have said instead, "conservative ideas will still win the day and we do not need to compromise. It is those who have that have lost." It was a little difficult to see one of my mentors loose.
Christy Achziger won for state party secratary. She is from Tooele. It is good to see one of our smaller counties get a voice on the executive committee.
After the vote, there was a speech by Ken Blackwell, former mayor of Cincinatti and a candidate for GOP national committee chair. A very moving and impressive speech. Too bad Ohioans choose someone else for their governor in 2006. He was a victim of "Bush burnout." Hopefully, we will see him in Congress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Blackwell
There were speeches from the major office holders in the state. Governor Huntsman said goodbye in a taped message. Gary Herbert gave a nice speech as incomming Governor. Some exected him to name a Lieutennant, but he said he wait until Huntsman is confirmed by the Senate. He said that he only has a long list right now. He will be a little more conservative than Huntsman and does not support civil unions. Again, I will wait until I see how he leads the legislature in January.
Senator Hatch then spoke. He says all of the right things and still seems to have a lot of energy. He is as enthusiastic about his job as he was in the 80s. (I bet he still votes to confirm Sotomeyor, in spite of what he says.) He also said that he will become the chair of the Senate finance committee if the GOP gets a majority back. I do not see that happening in 2010.
Senator Bennett spoke after Hatch. Bennett mentioned his views on the stimulus attempts by the Obama administration. But did not mention that he voted for TARP. I do not have a good gut feeling about Bennett. Out of the Utah Congressional delegation, he has the lowest level of energy. I will address more about the senatorial situation, later.
Both Bishop and Chaffetz had a lot of energy in their speeches. Bishop only mentioned Pelosi once, and only to mention that Cap and Trade will have little effect in her district because nearly all of SF's electricity comes from hydroelectric sources. Here in Utah, most of our power comes from coal plants. Chaffetz, who has become the star of the freshman class in congress, talked about a stare down he had Charlie Wrangell.
After the congressional delegation spoke, Mike Shurtleff spoke. He spoke of many of his successes as Attourney General. And he spoke provided rhetoric about why he wants to be a US Senator. I will again address this issue later.
We had speeches by the leaders of the state house and senate. Dave Clark gave a 30 second speech. Thanks, Dave.
Only one of the party initiatives passed. It was an assertation of state sovreignty.
Now about the senate race. If there is one member of the Utah Congressional delegation that seems old and tired it is Bob Bennett. On the other hand, the GOP needs to think about winning. If Bennett is the one that gives the party the best shot, then the candidate should be Bennett. I respect Jim Matheson, and I would like to see more "Blue Dog" democrats in Congress...from other states. I do not want to cede a seat in the Senate at this time. I am not at all happy with Bennett at this time. But I want this seat to stay republican.
I am not endorsing a candidate yet. Bennett and Shurtleff have an advantage simply because the already have been elected to office. They will get more free publicity from the press than the other two. I am willing to help the other candidates, Eager and Bridgewater make up the difference.
There are three Republicans that would like to unseat Bennet at this time. Here is a link to everyone's campaign web-site.
Bob Bennett:
http://www.bennettforsenate.com/
Cherilyn Eager
http://www.eagarforsenate.com/
Mike Shurtleff
http://markshurtleff.com/
Tim Bridgewater
http://www.timbridgewater.com/Tim/Main.html
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