From Deseret News archives:
A guide to understanding Utah politics
For fun, try explaining to non-Utahns who tend to think everyone in Utah is a diehard Republican how GOP delegates last week dumped an incumbent governor, advanced scandal-stained former Rep. Enid Greene in her race for lieutenant governor and forced four-term incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon into a primary.
And also try explaining how Democrats have serious chances not just long shots at winning the governor's race and the 2nd District House seat during a year that the state will almost surely vote overwhelmingly to re-elect President Bush.
Let's take those one at a time (as I do with bewildered acquaintances here).
1. Why was Gov. Olene Walker the first incumbent Utah governor dumped in 48 years? She forgot a basic rule of politics: If you snooze, you lose.
Polls show she is popular and would have been a tough candidate to beat had she won her party's nomination. But she waited too long to jump into the race. It seemed that half the state GOP hierarchy (I exaggerate, it was only a third) was in the race before she joined. The others had already committed many if not most of the delegates.
Many Utahns are a forgiving bunch who believe in redemption.
It helps that most blame Greene's problems on her being duped by Waldholtz, who falsely claimed to be a millionaire and illegally diverted money from her father and others into her winning 1994 congressional campaign.
It also helps that Greene is a nice person. And she suffered more pain and humiliation than anyone would wish on any 10 of their worst enemies. And Utahns seem to like comebacks because it gives us hope for redemption in our own lives.
But it could still backfire. Greene never fully explained (to my eyes, anyway) why financial peculiarities in her first, unsuccessful campaign (before she married Waldholtz) seemed to foreshadow later shenanigans she blamed exclusively on him. But Utahns also tend to have short memories about such details.
3. How did Cannon manage to be pulled into a primary? He has been acting like the hare in the fable of the hare and the tortoise. Why worry about that tortoise gaining on me? All is well, I can beat him easily I'll start tomorrow.
Comments
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- Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
- Hall reprimanded by MWC
- Utes won't respond to Hall
- Y. student vanished in China
- Cougs begin bowl preparations
- Max Hall issues apology
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- Mitchell called intelligent, controlling
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- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
899 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
481 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
384 - Max Hall issues apology
382 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
317 - Utes won't respond to Hall
264 - BYU is champion of the state
140 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
122 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
120 - Religion in politics is tiresome
113
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