Utah County GOP chooses new leadership

OREM — The Utah County Republican Convention was one part change in local leadership, one part platform affirmation and one part rally against "socialist" government in Washington, D.C.

The resulting cocktail lit a fire of enthusiasm among ardent right-wing supporters in Utah's most conservative county.

"Welcome fellow terrorists," Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz said to the crowd, drawing laughs and applause. "We're going to be the ones who are going to make a difference in this community."

Utah Sen. Bob Bennett also spoke, inspiring the crowd with a tale about the battle of Yorktown during the American Revolution.

"All we have to do is be smarter than Barack Obama," he said, telling how Gen. George Washington defeated the British by trapping them in a city whose ports were secured by the French. "We need to carefully find battles we can win. People will discover we're not on the right track."

About 850 delegates showed up to the convention, almost doubling the count from two years ago.

Many in the crowd attributed the energy of the convention to a change in local leadership.

Longtime party chairwoman Marian Monnahan stepped down from office, making way for the election of Taylor Oldroyd.

"I will not disenfranchise any voice or ignore those already elected," he said.

Party vice chairman Mark Cluff was the sole incumbent running; he held onto his seat by just nine votes.

"I know how the party runs," he said. "We need to take back our government and be more self-reliant."

Cluff's opponent, Lowell Nielsen, drew cheers with calls to audit the Federal Reserve, which he called a fiat monetary system.

Also elected Saturday was party treasurer Lisa Shepherd, who hopes to use precinct secretaries to register high school students, and Lynn Taylor, an Air Force veteran who runs a public online high school.

Taylor touted his expertise in Web management and foretold that tough politics are moving south.

"The Democrat line of Salt Lake is moving south every year," he said. "Before long, there will be tough races here."

As a whole, the party seemed to move in the direction of transparency. Each elected candidate pushed for improvements to the party Web site and many encouraged making the names and contact information of delegates more public.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff personified another party goal by sending a Twitter message from stage.

Shurtleff, like other speakers from the top rungs of state power, encouraged the use of social networking and online campaigns.

However, former Utah Rep. Chris Cannon warned against the use of anonymous Web sites.

"We have to not be negative," he said. "We have to stop assassinating characters."

Cannon went on to call Obama a socialist, but said the trait was philosophical rather than moral.