As Chaffetz gains fame, political questions arise

Congressman Jason Chaffetz has received a lot of attention from national media, including popular television programs and mainstream newspapers. His rocket-ship career in Utah politics is raising some interesting questions:

Does Chaffetz have a bright future as a long-term congressman, or is he just a conservative firebrand without much substance who will quickly flame out?

Webb: Chafettz's conservative base loves him, but among mainstream Utahns, and particularly business leaders and local government officials, the jury is still out. They view him as something of a reactionary populist who can toss out a lot of red meat to his fans, rather than as a statesman working on real solutions to the nation's problems.

However, in fairness to Chaffetz, it must be remembered that he's not even a year into his first term as a member of the minority party. Freshmen congressmen, especially those in the minority, are usually mostly ignored and have little impact.

Chaffetz barely has learned where the bathrooms are, so he can't be expected to be in the middle of substantive legislation solving the world's problems. He can shout out a few catcalls from the sidelines, and he's received a lot of attention doing so. Still, Utah's political establishment will be watching to see how he grows into his position and whether he can become a force in furthering Utah's interests at the national level.

Pignanelli: "The mission of the press is to spread culture while destroying the attention span." — Karl Kraus. Chaffetz and other outspoken politicos are grateful to Glenn Beck, syndicated talk show host on the Fox network. Beck's self-righteousness, hypocrisy and outright lies have established a new low even for entertainment programs trying to disguise themselves as yellow journalism. Blowhards from the right and left (i.e. MoveOn.org and Sean Hannity) are almost human in comparison to this self-deluded muckraker, while Chaffetz is positively statesmanlike.

Regardless how one views Chaffetz's pronouncements and media antics, his political savvy cannot be denied. He is not shy in using family connections in garnering Democratic support for his legislation. Yet Chaffetz understands that a freshman congressman in the minority party has limited impact on the legislative process. He is covering this deficit with a frenetic media appearance schedule.