Actions loud at the GOP convention
One of the most striking — and unreported — moments at Saturday's Utah County Republican Convention came after the speeches by the candidates in Utah Senate District 16 and involved not a single word.
Provo Sen. Curt Bramble again sought the nomination of his party, generally a given for a Senate Majority Leader.
As the District 16 delegates gathered in the Orem High auditorium to hear Bramble and underdog opponents Jackie deGaston and James O'Neal give their convention speeches and then vote on a nominee, there was an obvious visual difference.
On the one hand, a lone woman nominated deGaston and O'Neal spoke for himself. In contrast, Bramble had assembled a lineup of heavy hitters reminiscent of the 1927 New York Yankees Murderer's Row to nominate him and speak on his behalf.
His teenage daughter led off, followed by former Utah House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander and Utah County Commissioner Steve White. Next came influential legislative chair Dean Sanpei and Rep. Becky Lockhart, who has plenty of clout on her own and also is the wife of the chairman of the Utah Republican Party.
But perhaps the most meaningful visual came after Bramble followed those remarks with his own speech.
Senate President John Valentine stood with the rest of Murderer's Row but didn't say a word, prohibited by party rules from speaking because he doesn't live in Bramble's district.
Instead, after Bramble completed his speech, a beaming Valentine rushed forward and enthusiastically embraced Bramble.
A wise colleague leaned over to me and said, "There's the godfather hug."
Bramble won 67 percent of the vote, eliminating deGaston and O'Neal, and advanced to the November general election.
The Republicans are so good at visuals, they ought to consider televising the convention.
Linda Housekeeper ran as an underdog like deGaston against Orem Rep. Brad Daw. She had someone on the inside at Orem High set up the room where delegates for House District 60 would vote so there were 85 blue chairs and 10 red ones.
She reserved the 10 red hot seats for what she, deGaston and others called the "automatic" delegates. Valentine and local GOP leadership prefer the term "ex officio" — elected officers who earn delegate status by way of their office.
Housekeeper invited the automatic delegates to sit in the designated row. Some complied. Then she asked the 10 if they wouldn't mind sitting out the vote.
The group included Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert. Herbert raised his hand and, according to Deseret News reporter Ethan Thomas, said, "I'm one of those delegates and I'm going to exercise my right to vote."
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