I have been skeptical of Obama’s promise to bring change to Washington, to transcend the divisive politics of the past two decades, and to end the partisan wars by building a new majority. The man who has promised “a new kind of politics” where “old labels don’t apply” has voted with his own party 96 percent of the time accordingly to Congressional Quarterly’s website.
To effect change, Obama has enlisted a running mate whose tenure in Washington pre-dates Watergate. In fact, when Joe Biden was taking his senatorial oath of office, Obama was still taking his bus to grade school.
Joe Biden? This is the guy who orchestrated the Clearance Thomas/Anita Hill fiasco. And before that, he “borked” Robert Bork. (More recently, Biden voted against the confirmations of both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Alito.)
Obama/Biden is the most liberal ticket ever offered by the Democrats. And that is saying a lot considering the McGovern/Shriver ticket in ‘72. The National Journal recently scored Obama as the most liberal senator and Joe Biden as the third most liberal senator in Washington. (National Journal, 7/18/08). By comparison, Hillary Clinton ranked a meager 16th. Obama and Biden don’t just talk the talk when it comes to liberal issues like government-controlled health care, they actually walk the walk.
Biden does not come to the ticket without controversy. He has previously apologized for plagiarizing a political speech and misrepresenting his academic record. In law school, he was caught submitting a word-for-word copy of five pages of a published law review article as his own work.
Biden also says a lot of stupid things. Last year, he described Obama to the New York Observer as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Come again? While campaigning in New Hampshire in July 2006, Mr. Biden said that “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.”
Biden also doesn’t match up with Obama on important issues like Iraq. Biden voted in favor of the Iraq war resolution in October 2002. (Obama, of course, didn’t vote on the resolution because he was busy casting “present” votes in the Illinois legislature at the time.) Also, one of Obama’s most stinging criticisms of McCain has been for his support of a bankruptcy reform bill authored by Biden.
Speaking of Biden and McCain, they happen to like each other a lot. In 2005, Biden told Jon Stewart that: “John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off.” (The Daily Show, 8/2/05).
In fact, until last Saturday, Biden seemed to have more confidence in McCain than he did with his running mate: “I think [Obama] can be ready [to be president], but right now, I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.” (ABC’s, “This Week,” 8/19/07).
Well, plug in your speakers and click here to be transported back to those eventful hours in the McKay Center, courtesy of the Elephant in the Room (a.k.a. Colby Green).
Visual learners . . . check out the Utah GOP’s YouTube Channel. Michael Johnson filmed and uploaded almost 50 video clips from the convention - speeches, interviews, and action shots.
And, of course we have the photographs and blogs below - thanks to Olga Sattarova, James Taylor, Stan Lockhart and Ivan Dubois.
Want to add something? Email me or attach comments to one of the posts, below
Thanks to all the delegates, candidates, family, and friends who gave up a perfectly beautiful spring Saturday to serve their party, state, and nation.
As you can see from the posts on this site, we’ve had a full day.
Thank you to our impressive staff, capable volunteers, patriotic delegates, stellar candidates, and all the wonderful Utah citizens who couldn’t be here but were with us on-line and in spirit. We tried to bring it home to you. Over the course of the convention we recorded over 100 short videos and podcasts (and we’re still working to get them all posted). Even then we couldn’t capture it all. But I think you can get a taste of what it is like to be a Republican in Utah; to be part of the work to keep our country healthy, safe, prosperous, and free.
You are an impressive party. Our people are wonderful. Our candidates are stellar. Our philosophy of government leads to hope and independence. It leads to stronger families, safer streets, and more vibrant communities. Our freedom is worth protecting and our values are worth preserving. It’s truly an honor to associate with you in this noble cause.
Please contact the Party anytime. 2008 will be a good year; I am excited to make history with all of you.
Dozens of people wearing orange Vote Dave Leavitt shirts just marched through the event center carrying big blue Chris Cannon signs. It was a little surreal.
Any predictions for Round 3?
[Update:] Dave Leavitt and Chris Cannon walked back into the back of the convention side by side. Bugged a few delegates.
First a shout out to the Government 2.0 Crew for putting together a multi-media live blogging blitz for the Convention. It’s great for people who couldn’t be at UVSC and it’s nice for talk show hosts who will use the audio for broadcast on Monday. As I have been ranting on KVNU recently there are just two kinds of people in the political world: those who get blogging and those who don’t. And those who don’t get it will soon be marginalized.
This was the first State Convention that I have attended. Aside from the barrage of free chocolates, rice crispie treats and tshirts, perhaps most striking aspect was the access that delegates have. Legislators, Congressmen and U.S. Senators blended in with the delegates and gave them truly personal and undivided attention. This kind of access is pretty rare in politics. During the Convention I was near the back with the Cache County delegation. Senator Bennett was about 15 feet away chit chatting with whomever wanted to talk for at least an hour.
The State Treasurers race was intriguing. The point of contention was not over specific issues, but what criteria delegates ought to use to cast their ballots. Mark Walker emphasized that he was a conservative and then paraded a “Who’s Who” of the Republican Party to vouch for him. Richard Ellis emphasized his professional training and expertise. So it was political philosophy vs. professional expertise. I voted for professional expertise, but was in the minority. Republicans state wide will have the final say in the debate.
I also really enjoyed running into friends and bloggers. Utah politics is a small world these days. Conventions tend to have a lot of dead time that can be made fun if you’ve got the right group to shoot the breeze with. Such was the case today with a really stellar Cache County delegation.
One of our delegates faced an emergency situation in the bleachers. An EMT (Senate President John Valentine) and 4 doctors were on the scene in seconds and took care of the situation until paramedics arrived. We’re waiting to hear more news and and pray the delegate is okay.
The Convention 2.0 Team has made some new friends today. Gerald Hasty, a delegate from Davis County, shared these photos of his wife, IvyJean Hasty, who was helping out with the credentialing process.
He also shared a video of Rob Bishop and JP for Davis County Commission, speaking in the District 1 caucus. We’ll post it in a few.
Laura and Mark count delegate donations in a secure undisclosed location. THANK YOU. The Party raised a little over $8K today. And few pics of the Shurtleff Team.
Maybe we’re doing something right. Jason at The Sidetrack posts a little feedback from the Democrat side of the equation:
” . . . there is no way around this one: The Utah Republican Party is kicking our [trash] in utilizing new technology to engage voters in the state. I’ve talked to a multitude of Democrats in the state today that have been relying on the Republican Party’s convention website for news . . . “
[Update:] Friends don’t let friends sign this petition.
The following GOP candidates were - almost unanimously - approved by the delegates:
Scott Jenkins, State Senator, District 20 Ralph Okerlund, State Senator, District 24 Lyle Hillyard, State Senator, District 25 David Hinkins, State Senator, District 27 Rhonda Menlove, State Representative, District 1 Ben Ferry, State Representative, District 2 Fred Hunsaker, State Representative, District 4 Brad Dee, State Representative, District 11 Garrett Clark, State Representative, District 25 Mel Brown, State Representative, District 53 John Mathis, State Representative, District 55 Patrick Painter, State Representative, District 67 Brad Wynn, State Representative, District 68 Jerry Anderson, State Representative, District 68 Kay McKiff, State Representative, District 70 Mike Noel, State Representative, District 73
These are all candidates for office with districts that cross county lines. Candidates for legislative districts contained within a county are decided in that county’s convention. Had more than one Republican filed for office in any of these districts, the finalist(s) would have been decided today at the State Convention (as happened here, here, here, and here).
We’ll need another round of voting on this one too. In the first round Stone Fonua received four votes( .37 percent), Joe Ferguson received 49 (4.54 percent), . David Leavitt: 220 (20.37 percent), Jason Chaffetz: 469 (43.43 percent), Chris Cannon: 338 (31.30 percent).
Picasa is up and running. Check out photos of the events surrounding the speeches from the candidates for Governor and Treasurer (and some leftover photos from the candidates for District 3).
Republican Ed Alter is retiring after 20 years of quiet but powerful service as Utah State Treasurer. Two great candidates are competing for the office. Richard Ellis spoke first, followed by Mark Walker. We’ll post the video’s here as soon as the computer chews through them.
Ric Cantrell has graciously let me take over his laptop and post a thing or to.
Things are really energetic right now, I just got back from voting, and if you know me from my website, then you know I voted for Jason Chaffetz. His speech was great. It was the most issues-oriented speech, and the crowd was applauding.
Maybe it is my bias, but things are looking good for me.
Check this post for continually updated news from the McKay Events Center.
Stone Fonua led the crowd in some serious rallying, then explained his Peacemaker platform. “Napoleon Dynamite has nothing over me!”
Joe “NPC” Ferguson. Joe thinks the federal government is abusing its power and must be corrected. He spoke out against the North American Union.
David O. Leavitt opened with a video featuring Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” “We don’t need a politician, we need a statesman!” Loud applause, plus balloons!
Jason Chaffetz argues that Republicans must return to core conservative principles: fiscal conservatism, and limited government. “We don’t need another attorney back in Washington, send a man from the business community and I’ll get it done!” Wants to repeal No Child Left Behind. Loud applause - no balloons - but his campaign is in the black.
Rep. Chris Cannon opened with a video detailing his record. Endorsements from Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator, Bob Bennett, and President George W. Bush. Loud applause.
Convention Out of 3,490 potential delegates, 3,298 delegates have checked in so far. About 95 percent. The actual number in attendance today is much higher because it includes family, campaign supporters, party staff, vendors, reporters, university staff and a few new media volunteers.
Bob Wren was eliminated in the first round. In the second round, David Labrum received 29 delegate votes (54.72 percent) and Kraig Powell received 24 votes (45.28 percent). Since neither candidate garnered 6o percent they will face off in a primary on June 24.
Greetings from the Utah Republican Party convention in Orem.
The excitement level is off the charts:
Booths, volunteers, candidates, music, hand-outs by the bag-load and lots of friendships renewed during the early stages of the grand event:
Major signage abounds on the campus of Utah State College (soon to be university) buildings where the major events will be held.
This is a paradise for freebie fans: candidate name –emblazoned candies, badges, pins, has, flyers, lapel stickers, bumper stickers, lawn signs, giant posters – you name it, it’s here for the taking.
The party folks have done yeoman service in laying out the candidate booths, entries and arenas to accommodate the party faithful and are to be saluted as not all the attractions are in one main, central locale.
The 2008 Utah Republican Party Convention will begin bright and early on Saturday morning, May 10, 2008, at Utah Valley State College. Pick up your credentials as early as 7:00 a.m.
House caucuses will start at 8:00 a.m. Senate caucuses will begin at 9:00 a.m. The main meeting will convene at 10:00 a.m.
By Stan Lockhart
