Reader comments
Republican is defying his own party and opposing 'automatic delegates'

Mark | 7:28 a.m. March 25, 2008

Looks like Mike is trying to find an activist judge that will say a party can't use its own rules to select delegates. Fine example of conservative principles, to bring in the courts when he doesn't get his way.

The question of whether the party should have appointed delegates (which sounds similar to the Democrats' 'superdelegates') is a legitimate one, but not to argue through the courts. Grow up, Mike, and deal with not getting your way.

Jesse Harris | 7:52 a.m. March 25, 2008

Is that any way to talk to someone who you've already taken a restraining order against?

Voting Democrat | 8:07 a.m. March 25, 2008

Doesn't matter if you like Ridgway, or not. He's got a point here.

The Party I once loved is down the toilet. It's time to vote the bums out.

Comments continue below

Party Faithful | 8:29 a.m. March 25, 2008

Ridgeway is not a "Republican." The reporter should get her facts straight before just accepting his self declaration that he is a "Republican." Republicans work for the republican cause. Ridgeway has not done a single thing to help a single republican candidate in all his years of chestbeating. Ridgeway's sole cause is to tear down the Republican parties.

Bart Grant | 8:36 a.m. March 25, 2008

The law-suit isn't against the SL county party only. It's against the STATE AND the SL County party. The STATE party needs to enforce their rules in ALL counties.

There are FAR more than 30 automatic State and County in SL County (about double that) and this is repeated in almost every county.

When ONE vote can change the outcome 60 is an enormous intrusion.

James Evans' arguments are nothing but a smoke-screen (you'd expect something more intelligent and accurate from someone who once served in the State Legislature) that will set off all of the smoke-detectors in the court building tomorrow as the judge imposes the party's own rules NOT Mike Ridgway's will.

Faithful's wrong! | 9:00 a.m. March 25, 2008

"Party faithful" should get her facts straight before (inaccurately) declaring that Ridgway has not campaigned for republicans. Mike has volunteered for republican candidates EVERY election year without fail.

Jeff | 8:59 a.m. March 25, 2008

Faithful doesn't realize that keeping the party honest and obeying our own rules is a service to every party candidate who wants to represent an honest Republican party. That this point is lost on Faithful demonstrates why there is so much corruption in the party and some elected Republicans.

Loren | 9:05 a.m. March 25, 2008

No wonder so many republicans have been getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar in recent years. After getting away with stealing delegates from their precincts to they keep stealing when they're in office.

Cristy | 10:22 a.m. March 25, 2008

It's really simple.....anytime you take power from the people and give it to the discretion of those in power they will use it for their benefit. Automatic Delegates are wrong, against the rules and need to go!

Dave Duncan | 12:01 p.m. March 25, 2008

The solution is simple. The party should obey it's own rules, or change them. There is a mechanism in place to change the constitution. The party leadership followed that process, but the delegates rebuffed them in the convention. Rather than listen to the delegates, and start obeying their own rules, they chose to continue to ignore them--the rules AND the delegates.

Perhaps it is time for new party leadership (again), that won't ignore the rules, and will respect the vote of the delegates.

In the meantime, there is no recourse to protect the people of this state from the effects of continuing to violate this rule, other than to take it to the courts. The party could easily avoid this, by obeying it's rules. Why blame Mike, when it's in the hands of party leaders?

Vaughn Robison | 12:02 p.m. March 25, 2008

"Any time he doesn't get his way, he tries to disrupt our party process," -- quoted from James Evans in above article.

There is an old saying: ï¿½Whatever Peter says about Paul says more about Peter than it does about Paul.ï¿½

In other words it involves the psychological principle of projection. When a person projects
their own inclinations onto others in an attempt to get their own evil inclinations away from themselves, they are really making a tacit admission
that they are oftentimes guilty of the very thing they are accusing the other person of having done.

Attendees were prepared to vote AGAINST the GOP's proposal of MORE automatic delegates at the GOP's March 15 central committee mtg. When James Evans, et.al., saw how many people were still there waiting to vote AGAINST it, after having put it at the end of the agenda, he adjourned!

Who is it, really, who "disrupts the party process" when they don't "get their own way??" Who is it that has temper tantrums, spreads lies, does name-calling, cries "victim" to the police and has them do frivolous arrests on innocent people who are speaking against their one-more-corrupted-layer-of-a-power-grab??

Drew Chamberlain | 12:44 p.m. March 25, 2008

We expect the Democrats to cheat. Republicans should set a better example. Follow our RULES, NO more automatic delegates.

Doug Timmerman | 3:21 p.m. March 25, 2008

If it was up to Evans and the rest of the county henchmen they would just appoint all the delgates, this practice of appointing delegates should end, by virtue of the office the elected officials have enough power without having the power of delgate given to them to swing the outcome of any given election..

IM | 3:36 p.m. March 25, 2008

Why penalize those that do the work? I live in Utah County and love that fact that those from SL argue about this all the time but I'm grateful for Utah County and the fact that we reward our legislative chairs with votes at the conventions.

yorktown | 4:36 p.m. March 25, 2008

Of course James Evans is going to support automatic delegates--he's in the power right now.

Why should John Valentine or Curt Bramble be appointed automatic delegates? That means they get to vote for themselves at convention, thereby cementing their incumbency even more. If they appoint ever more delegates, they get ever more votes at convention because all their own people have been appointed.

This has to end. Delegates should be elected, not appointed. Period.

If every Utahn realized the power of delegates and the dirty business that happens at meetings and conventions, there would be a packed court room when Ridgway filed. This is not a frivolous lawsuit. This is called the next step after you've already tried every other avenue for change.

observant | 4:38 p.m. March 25, 2008

Why was this column posted yesterday and then removed along with all of the comments?

Wouldn't it have been nice for the public to have the chance to learn about this event before it took place?

Alona | 5:12 p.m. March 25, 2008

Dave Duncan, Vaughn Robison and Drew all have it right. We as Republicans should demand Integrity from our party leaders. It is very discouraging to see what is happening. Mike Ridgway has put himself out there to try and better the situation in the long term. Maybe more of us should be as stalwart in defending our freedoms.

J Anderson | 9:22 p.m. March 26, 2008

The only persons that are supporting the (illegal/unethical) practice of "Automatic Delegates" are those that don't want the grassroots participants in the party to have a voice. There is an Eleteist clique in the party that knows, if the people become aware of their true intentions,that they will be voted out,therefore they need to stack the deck against any non-insider participation.It's a piteous situation that Americans in general won't participate in the government that was created for them.
In the end it (they're ability to participate in their own government) will be taken from them.
These insiders also hate Mike R. and are only able to make personal attacks on him because they know that they have no logical arguments against the content/direction of what he is doing/ saying.

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