Interesting political story in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune, entitled "Demos raise cash in GOP heartland" (Utah County) As set forth in the headline, it's a real man bites dog story. We incorporate the pertinent paragraphs below:
Several Democratic legislative candidates in Utah County are outraising their incumbent Republican opponents for the first time in recent history.Do the early fundraising figures reflect a genuine Democratic Party resurgence in Utah County, or merely what securities wonks (and some political pundits) refer to as a "dead cat bounce?"
Of the 12 races in Utah County for House and Senate seats, six Democrats have collected more than Republican incumbents and one is within a few hundred dollars.
"This is a sign of major disenchantment with the status quo," said Richard Davis, Utah County Democratic Party chairman. "Putting up money to support these challengers really shows people are willing to support who they believe in."
He can't recall a time when Democrats had such a strong start, but he knows there are several months to go before the Nov. 4 election.
"Even where there is a difference between the two, there's not necessarily a stark difference," Davis said.
However, some Republican incumbents have raised significantly more. Sen. Curt Bramble has about $70,000 in the bank compared with less than $300 raised by Democratic challenger Fred Desposorio.
Bramble said most Utah County Republicans will begin fundraising in earnest now that their convention is over.
"I'm confident all Republican candidates will have adequately funded campaigns," Bramble said. "I'm glad to see the Democratic Party fielding a qualified set of candidates."
No Utah County Democrat has held an elected partisan office for more than a decade - since Sen. Eldon Money, of Spanish Fork, left the Legislature in 1996.
And the foregoing inevitably raises the question, which we'll ask of our Democrat friends on this board: How's the Demo fundraising coming along in Weber County?
7 comments:
Rudi:
You wrote: Do the early fundraising figures reflect a genuine Democratic Party resurgence in Utah County, or merely what securities wonks (and some political pundits) refer to as a "dead cat bounce?"
We'll know in November.
But the real news in the story is, I think, that Democrats in Utah County have credible candidates with credible funding in place in many more races than they have in the recent past. They're in the game, in short, in more places and more credibly than they have been in recent memory.
Whether it will translate into additional seats and offices in November remains to be seen. I certainly hope it will, but even if it does not, the fielding of credible candidates in real races will be a gain worth making. Absent huge unpredictable events [like Watergate for example], it's difficult to stage a major comeback in one... or two... elections. Party building takes time, and consistent work. [Though I admit, George Bush and Chris Buttars have been a great help so far. I used to think it was impoossible to embarrass a Republican, but those two have managed to do it].
Party building for Democrats in Utah County... in nearly all of Utah... is not a job for the weak of heart. One of the keys to doing that, re-building the Democratic Party in Utah, is being more right on the issues that matter [e.g. school vouchers] more of the time than the other guys. But another part of it means conceding nothing, not a single seat, to the opposition. It means making them fight for every seat they hold and want to keep. Every one. A Utah version of John Dean's successful "50 state strategy." And that's what seems to be happening now, state wide, under the Utah Dems current leadership [Wayne Holland], supported by the DNC under Dean.
One of my concerns about Ms. Clinton winning the nomination is that her key supporters [most recently the Gov. of Pa.] have made it plain that if she does, the 50 state strategy will go straight into the trashcan and the candidate [and party] will return to the old, failed "seventeen states plus one" strategy, focusing all party funding in "those state where we think we have a good chance to win." If there is a revival of the Utah Dem Party underway, and I hope there is, it would not be happening without Dean's 50 state strategy.
Going to be an interesting six months. And going to be lots of fun watching Republicans like Bobble Head Rob Bishop pretending to run as fiscal conservatives. How Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show will be able to compete with comedy like that I can't imagine....
Looks like Bramble's back in the senate again. His only real opposition came during the GOP convention.
Good luck, broke Dems!
Curm, I just can't help myself. Any poor democrat residing in Utah County is " the snowball in hell".
Does it really matter in Utah? I was horrified when I learned (thanks to wcforum since you don't hear about this stuff otherwise) that Brother Ed Allen, High Priest of the Church of Gondola Dreams, was chair of the Weber County Democrats.
And don't forget Bishop Stewey Reid, so-called Democrat for Senate awhile back. I voted for Greiner, admittedly not knowing much about him, but definitely knowing I didn't like Mr. Let's-kick-all-these-poor-folk-in-my-own-ward out-to-the-curb-on-Lesham's-behalf. Had I been given even a smidgen of an idea how sleazy Greiner was as well, I would have written in either "None of the Above" or "Mark Hoffman" for my vote for the Senate seat.
I swore time and time again back then, the *only* reason Reid ran as a Democrat was because he knew he couldn't win a Republican primary. Now I realize there were two reasons - the aforementioned one, and to be a slot holder for His Giant Foreheadedness's grand schemes.
Blegh. This state is far too nauseating to face sober.
Sorry to be such a negative nancy. I'm tired, grouchy and without hope.
-A
Sorry, re-reading my post and realized I got a little sidetracked. The point I was trying to make is that IMHO, in Utah, the Democrats are simply Republicans using the extra baseball field since there isn't really anyone playing on it - Ed Allen and Stewey Reid being prime examples of it.
Drew:
Your information is a little off. Mr. Allen is running for the state house of representatives from Leg 10 --- the district represented formerly by Lou Shirtliff. He is not chair of the WC Democratic Party. LaFray Kelley is chairwoman of the WCDs. That may explain why you didn't hear about his being chair "otherwise" except on WCF. By the way, if you want to find out about the Weber County Democratic Party, it might be worth going to the party's website where you'll find the party's leaders listed, with email links, and the WCDems platform for Campaign 2008.
Mr. Allen is not running for Ogden City Council or the Mayor's Office. Were he running for either of those posts, given his gondola views, I would be out knocking on doors working for his opponent. But he's not going to vote on the gondola in the legislature. Where he stands on matters likely to require his vote in the legislature is what will decide my vote, and having heard him address health care, vouchers, public education, property taxes, the war in Iraq etc. at the recent Weber County Democratic Convention, his positions seem to me to be solidly Democratic. So it becomes, for me, a question of whether it will be better to have him, a Democrat and soundly Democratic on the issues likely arise next session, in the legislature representing my district than another Bramble, Curtis, Valentine, Buttars sycophant. It will take a lot more than his being related to Mayor Godfrey to convince me the answer to that question is "no."
But Curm, didn't he take the pulpit one sunday to proletize on the virtue of his oversized forehead bearing son in law, and testify to the accuracy of lying little matty's visionary prowess?
Was it deciet or mental instability?
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