$10 million for Utah campaigns changed little

What did the 2004 elections bring us?

• Maybe $10 million was spent in Utah, and we got the same members of Congress we had before; the same party controlling the executive branch of government; the same party controlling the Legislature (by nearly the same majorities).

People need to vote in democracies. And it's great that nearly 75 percent of registered voters statewide cast ballots. But in a cash-starved state like Utah, could that $10 million have been spent in a better way?

Perhaps not. But I'm guessing local schools and public universities could have used some of it. Yeah, yeah. I know. Contributing to a political campaign is a form of free speech. And what's a journalist doing banging free speech. But did we really need to see all those negative 2nd District TV ads for weeks on end?

• Negative ads, especially if there are lots and lots of them, don't work in Utah. Ask 2nd District GOP candidate John Swallow.

• Local government scandals have impacts.

Salt Lake County voters apparently were sick of troubles in county government. Even though Republican Ellis Ivory's campaign seemed to catch on the final days of the campaign, he lost to Democrat Peter Corroon.

No doubt some will say that independent (former Republican) Merrill Cook could have cost Ivory the race. If you add Cook's votes to Ivory's ballot votes and Ivory's pre-Election Day write-in absentee votes, you top Corroon's total by 2,247 ballots.

But you can't say that all of Cook's support came from people who would have chosen Ivory had Cook not been in the race. Adding to the throw-the-bums-out mentality, first-time candidate Jenny Wilson, daughter of former Salt Lake City mayor Ted Wilson, unseated at-large GOP County Councilman Harmsen.

Actually, Harmsen had nothing to do with the county vehicle scandal (that was in embattled Mayor Nancy Workman's office and other executive offices). Likewise, Harmsen didn't have anything to do with Workman's Boys and Girls Club scandal that has her in court now.

I know that Harmsen was on the council when some of this wrongdoing was taking place; and he was chairman for part of the time. But, ironically, Harmsen actually has been a critic of some of Workman's policies in the past.

It looks like the shotgun approach was taken by voters in the higher-profile county races this year.

• The LDS Church wins political fights in Utah, even when its leaders don't directly endorse a ballot proposal. (The church does not endorse candidates.)