Yesterday's Standard-Examiner contained a short teaser which dang near kept us up all night with eager anticipation. "COMING FRIDAY - What is the key to the Ogden Mayoral race?" the Std-Ex sidebar blurb said. We always lose sleep whenever the Std-Ex political pundits promise a story that will explain "what's up."
Surely enough, and just as promised, the story was right there on the front page of our hard-copy front-porch edition this morning, under the banner headline: "The Ogden Divide."
And the "keys to the kingdom" that the Std-Ex promised to provide? (Drum-roll):
House Representative Hansen holds some mighty strong cards as we move toward the general election.
As our 17-year old nephew might have said, "Doh."
Breaking down the primary election numbers, we already know that two-term incumbent Boss Godfrey received only 40% of the primary vote, whereas the four anti-Godfrey challengers received a fat 60%. Somehow, however, the Standard-Examiner editors just can't bring themselves to mention that. Godfrey, who was polling at around a 40% approval rating in private polling eight weeks before the primary, hasn't budged in popularity in the succeeding period. Godfrey's campaign has obviously stalled, despite: a) the "deep sixing" of his goofy and wildly unpopular Golf Course Sale Plan, b) the planting of those thousands of prissy pastel $20 dollar lawn signs over every vacant property in Ogden, and c) the substantial "good ink" he got from the Std-Ex in the days preceding the primary election. Godfrey is obviously in deep political trouble, folks, but somehow the Std-Ex couldn't quite bring themselves to say THAT either.
Of the 6,863 total votes cast in the mayoral balloting, Hansen received 1,327 -- 19.34% -- more than enough to put Ms. Van Hooser over the top in November, especially with a Hansen endorsement, provided the campaign staffs in the Van Hooser and Hansen camps can get their respective acts together, and iron out joint and mutual commitments.
We were amused by these statements in this morning's Standard-Examiner, which, to us, sounded like the murmurings of a frightened little boy, whistling in the dark:
Godfrey also said it’s unlikely all of the voters who supported Hansen in the primary will cast ballots for Van Hooser in the general election.We have disturbing news for Boss Godfrey: The 60% of primary voters who voted for opposition candidates clearly reflected a decidedly anti-Godfrey sentiment which permeates the entire community. That general impediment is something we do not believe Boss Godfrey will be able to solve in the short 52 days leading up to the November election. Godfrey has been building animosity in the citizenry for years. No amount of campaign money or last-minute fancy footwork can turn that around, in our not so humble belief.
"It never happens that way. It depends on the issues,” he said. “The general election is a very different animal than the primary.”
What's more, we believe the strength that Rep. Hansen demonstrated west of Harrison Boulevard is also strongly indicative of Hansen's strong pre-existing support from within his House District 9, where he's been elected to five (that's 5) straight state legislative terms. If anyone can deliver anything approaching a "block vote" with an endorsement -- it's Hansen.
So there are two strong factors operating against Boss Godfrey, especially in the "west of Harrison precincts": Generally-existing anti-Godfrey sentiment, and a block of District 9 voters who like and trust Neil Hansen.
We understand that "feelers" are already going out, to promote early negotiations between the Hansen and Van Hooser factions. The earlier these nice folks begin (and complete) negotiations the better, we suggest.
We'll also turn our attention to this morning's Standard-Examiner companion story, wherein Bryan Saxton reports that some council candidates in the city of Syracuse are unhappy about an obvious mayor-lapdog ticket, the menbers of which are plainly sharing campaign tactics and resources. Pro-mayor tickets are of course nothing new in northern Utah politics. Don't feel alone in this, Syracuse citizens. We have one of those lapdog tickets right here in Emerald City too:
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