GOP firing to have little effect on public

The firing this week of Jeff Hartley, the state Republican Party's executive director, by outgoing party chairwoman Enid Greene is seen by some political insiders as much ado about nothing.

Of course Hartley, who basically has been publicly slammed for his work, may not see it that way.

There's a long history here of political slights, egos, personalities, bruised feelings and so on.

As Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, puts it: Enid "threw a grenade into the party headquarters as she walked out the door."

But Greene says after GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. decided not to recommend anyone for party chairman, and after former gubernatorial candidate Fred Lampropoulos — handpicked by Huntsman to be the new chairman — took himself out of the race for a variety of reasons, she no longer felt she could keep Hartley on.

Basically, Greene says, Hartley was a poor executive director, and she wasn't going to just pass him on to a new chairman elected in five weeks by party delegates.

Still, Hartley has his defenders, including a number of leading Republican officeholders such as Hughes, who believe quick and coordinated action by Hartley saved a number of GOP candidates in the 2006 elections.

"We were facing a Democratic tidal wave across the nation and in Utah, and (Republicans) only lost one legislative seat (here), and that on a recount it was so close," says Hughes.

Hartley approved spending $50,000 for cable TV ads (rarely done in legislative races) toward the end of the campaign, one being for Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, who was targeted by Democrats.

Curtis ended up winning by just 19 votes. (Curtis points out that he not only paid the state party for the ads run on his behalf, he paid the state party for the ads of some fellow GOP candidates.)

And it would have been a major moral and political victory if Democrats had been able to unseat a sitting House speaker — something not done in recent political history in Utah.

But Greene can still defend her actions, too.

Hartley, a longtime GOP operative, had a higher salary than previous party executive directors. He'd been spending money like a drunken sailor, not even keeping track of it, she says.

Part of Hartley's deal included getting a commission on party fund-raising, not normally part of an executive director's compensation plan.