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Utah GOP to begin public campaign

Stan Lockhart says he believes in these Republican principles and values, yet he tell outright lies. He also acts out of line as the party chair in his actions towards those who challenged his BOUGHT and PAID for incumbents.

This is not a fair system with Stan Lockhart and Curt Bramble any where near the head of this party and legislature.

The GOP can state things like 'government based on "moral foundation with honesty, integrity, morality and accountability."' It doesn't make what they do honest or moral. I don't believe when they continually vote against ethics reform or open governement policies that they can stand for accountability. As for integrity, I don't see how they can claim that when in the name of families, or God, or morality they can propose laws and regulations that discriminate against immagrants, the poor, or any other group that doesn't fit into their mold of an ideal citizen. To claim they follow the constitution which talks about the general welfare or protection of rights for ALL people and then to vote for the exclusion of whole groups of people to participate in society does not show integrity but shows the hypocracy the party's platform represents. Utah may in the past have voted republican but that doesn't mean that people don't see what the party has become and will vote some other way in the future. I for one, don't want anything to do with the mess the GOP has created.

This Republican party and its leaders are arrogant and hostile toward anyone or any policy that doesn't stregthen their grip on the political process. They stifle debate and retaliate against any group or individual who does not agree with them. For ten years the party has been told that Utah parents and citizens did not want tax funded vouchers yet they turned their backs on those who elected them and voted for the most expensive voucher program in the country. The bill they passed to split JSD will end up costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars that should be going toward increasing teacher pay and reducing class size. What a waste!! One of the most negative experiences I have ever had in state government was to sit in on a Republican caucus. Negative, hostile, arrogant, mean-spirited, etc. What is really sad is that because these legislators are members of the predominant church, they will be re-elected in spite of the harm they are doing to our state.

Stan Lockhart is great man with a great vision for the Utah Republican Party. He has become a media target for criticism because (i) he lobbies for his employer; (ii) he is married to a state legislator; and (iii) he is friends with Curt Bramble.

I have know Stan for a long time. I have always found him to be honest, upfront, and above board. There is nothing sinister or unethical about working for a living, being married, or having friends. If you boil down all of the media stories during the past two months, they amount to much ado about nothing.

So what if his daughter wanted to be a delegate this year? She asked her county party leader which precinct she should attend and followed the directions she was given. So what if the party decided to keep all e-mails this campaign cycle? There is no law that says the party has to give out e-mails, and the party has sent out messages for the candidates when requested to do so. The media reports how unfair it is to challengers, but has yet to report a single instance of abuse.

Stan acknowleged that the timing of the "Fab Five" mailer was a mistake. He apologized for the mistake, and offerred to send out a similar mailer for the five Republican challengers. Four of the five accepted his apology, and moved on. One of the challengers decided to attack the party in the media. The Utah Republican Party, by and large, is run by unpaid volunteers. None of them are perfect. All of them are human and are prone to mistakes. If a mistake is made, you admit it and try to make it right. That is exactly what Stan did.

There are people who will attempt to make a villian out of anyone who is elected to lead the Utah Republican Party. But that shoe does not fit Stan Lockhart. If anyone wants to see what kind of leader Stan is, then they should go and watch the GOP state convention at UVSC in Orem tomorrow (Saturday) at 10:00 a.m. You might be surprised to find that Stan is smart, funny, energetic, fair and engaging. Oh, and there are no horns growing out of his head either.

Dear Anonymous:

Would you prefer it if Mormons were legally prohibited from serving in the Legislature? Would that improve things for you?

By the way, your premise if flawed. Representatives Titlon and Bowman are both LDS and were defeated in their own county conventions.

Republican Rep. Curt Oda is Buddhist. Re. Gage Froerer and Sen. Bill Hickman are both non-LDS Republican legislators as well.

There are a lot of Mormons in Utah. It is only natural that there would also be a lot of Mormons elected to the state legislature. Deal with it.

I don't believe for a moment the Republican party believes in the principles they give lip service to. If they did, why are they allowing John Huntsman the Younger who votes more in line with the Communist party than either the Republican or Democrat party to be a so called "Republican". The Republican party has a disease called hypocrisy run amok. I will be voting for primarily Democrats this year. At least they believe in bigger government immorality etc and don't try to hide it. I disagree with them, but at least they do what they say (ie raise taxes, kill babies and feel good about it, have sex with whoever they want, hate god etc. Which is better than I can say for a lot of Republicans.