Looks like Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee will run for the big mayoral office prize in November after all
For those Susan Van Hooser fans who have been keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for miracles, here's the latest from Cindi Mansell's Ogden City Recorders Office, which reports no apparently significant changes in the final Ogden City Primary Election vote distribution, with the heretofore uncounted "provisional ballots" now factored into the final vote tallies:
Looks like the November 8 General Election now boils down to a thrilling race between corporate cash-backed Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.
Exciting ainnit?
Never mind.
Update 9/21/11 8:12 a.m.: The Standard has the story this morning, reporting that Ms. Van Hooser, who still stands 44 votes shy of second place, is now weighing her options:
So what about it, O Gentle ones? If you were Susie Van Hooser, what would you do?
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29 comments:
I could be wrong about this, but this race is actually shaping up pretty interestingly, I think.
What's being served up in Ogden in 2011 is something we haven't seen in quite a long while in Ogden politics:
It's the Mormon Candidate, Mr. Stephenson, whose base is the Ogden wardhouses;
vs.
Mike Caldwell, an open-minded non-MoMo candidate with whom any Ogden City constituent could meet over a beer.
That's my take; and I'm stickin' with it.
The 2011 Ogden Mayoral race will be far more interesting than any of your think.
I could be wrong about this, but this race is actually shaping up pretty interestingly, I think.
What's being served up in Ogden in 2011 is something we haven't seen in quite a long while in Ogden politics:
It's the Mormon Candidate, Mr. Stephenson, whose base is the Ogden wardhouses;
vs.
Mike Caldwell, an open-minded non-MoMo candidate with whom any Ogden City constituent could meet over a beer.
That's my take; and I'm stickin' with it.
I think the 2011 Ogden Mayoral race will be far more interesting than any of you think.
Oh, good grief. I posted this as part of a longer comment a couple of threads below, but given the comment above, and Rudi's comment in the main thread entry, I'm reposting a bit of it here:
The run off seems to me can now be broadly characterized this way: the choices are the status quo [or "stay the course" to put it more positively] represented by Councilman Stephenson, or change [or "new directions" to put it more actively] represented by Mr. Caldwell. You're going to have a hard time, I think, convincing many voters for the run off that the choices are indeed both secretly named Matt Godfrey, and offer no more choice than Tweedle Dum or Tweedle Dee.
Just think about it: taking that tack leaves any undecided voter you convince of its truth no one to vote for at all. I suspect that kind of bad-loser electoral nihilism will not play well with voters likely to turn out in November.
I don't give a rat's patoot what the religion of either candidate is. I just don't care. I want the candidate most likely to lead Ogden well over the next four years, and how he spends his Sunday mornings (a) is none of my damn business (b) is none of the public's damn business (c) says little about how effectively he would lead Ogden in office.
I doubt anybody here is concerned about your attitude about "a rat's patoot".
For those of us who aren't rank newcomers like you, I believe we all recognise the operational dynamics here:
It's now a contest between Godfrey's base, the wardhouse lemmings, and Caldwell's newly invigorated base, the NON-Momos.
It isn't the first time this has happened in Ogden; nor will it be the last.
"I posted this as part of a longer comment a couple of threads below..."
Hard to believe you could have gone on any longer or more wrongly in your earlier comment; but if you say so, professor, what the hell.
A huge benefit of this blog is prefacing the anticipated nature of Mike Caldwell and providing the needed information, strategies and warnings. With his inability to commit, provide straight answers along with his list of campaign contributors, Mr. Caldwell has all but insured he will be under scrutiny similar to the previous administration and placed on a high power microscope slide compliments of WCF veteran Dan Schroeder and others. As Danny states previously, it's better to know the truth and facts about Caldwell now to be able to plan for potential decisions and policies that will coming down the pipe.
Provisional ballots and absentee ballots now counted. They narrowed the gap between Van Hooser and Stephenson to 44 votes. That's close enough that Van Hooser can request a full recount if she wishes to. She tells the SE she's thinking about it but hasn't decided yet.
The SE has the story here:
http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/09/20/van-hooser-not-sure-if-shell-request-recount-mayoral-vote
Yep. I added a link to the new story as an update, about 20 minutes ago.
Ah. Sorry, Rudi. Found the article on the SE site and posted w/o noticing the update. My bad.
While the winner of the mayors race may very well be under scrutiny similar to the Godfrey administration that means little in practical terms. Most Ogden residents only know what the S-E publishes in the dailoy paper. Will the paper again ignore illegal and unethicasl acts of the mayor? Will the paperagain turn a blind eye to gross incompetence? A honest and ethical administration needs a curious and skeptical local paper. Past history has not given me much faith that will happen.
a hell of a lot more people follow Ogden city politics covered by the paper than read or follow the WCF. The best bet to keep people aware and informed is still the daily paper.
Yup. True. but thats still, sadly, way short of most Ogdenites I'm afraid.
"If you were Susie Van Hooser, what would you do?"
With thousands of volunteer campaign hours devoted to Susie's cause, there's only one thing she can do wwithout slapping her volunteer supporters in the face:
Ask for a recount. It's a "no-brainer".
Ah, C'mon, BR. Do you think the "Suits From Sanduskey-Owned SE" will suddenly become Ogden City's yellow dog newspaper after January 4, 2012 (When Ice Sheet manager) Mike Caldwell's projected Ogden Mayoral aspirations will be realized? Eh BR?
My guess, BTW, is that we get as many page hits here on WCF with regard to political stories, as the SE Live! ediotion gets on any particular political article on given day.
C'Mon, BR. Don't sell out to the corporatists.
If Susan Van Hooser fails to ask for a recount, it just proves what we've known all along:
Susan Van Hooser has no BALLS!!!!
What's Van Hooser's problem with asking for an autoamatic recount?
Has Susie now made a Deal with THE Devil?
If indeed the Van Hooser campaign has made a deal with the Caldwell campaign as I suspect), I do hope the Van Hooser negotiators got it all down with a negotiated agreement, all in black and white.
I am not selling out. I was confused by the idea of Becker shopping at Walmart
First of all, I wouldn't presume to tell Councilwoman VH what to do. [In my experience, she does not respond well to people telling her what she must do. Ask the Mayor or phone Mr. Patterson if you doubt about that.]
I imagine she's thinking hard about (a) the likelihood that a recount might make a difference in the outcome, and (b) the likelihood of her waging a successful campaign for the office if it did and (c) how asking for or not asking for a recount might impact her future plans, if any, for standing for office again.
It's her call to make, either way, and I'll respect the decision she makes on it, however it goes.
PS The notion that Ms. VH is "up for sale" on this strikes me as very unlikely in light of past performance... a factor that pony players ignore at great peril to their wallets. For good reason.
If I were Susie Van Hooser, I'd never back down.
Ask for a a recount, Susie, ferchrissake!
If I were Susie Van Hooser, I'd just roll over.
Women have no place in politics.
If I were Susie Van Hooser, I'd just roll over.
Women have no place in politics.
If I were Susie Van Hooser, I'd just roll over.
Women have no place in politics.
Rest easy, BR. I wasn't. I was driving someone there who doesn't have a car so she could shop.
PS: the coffee in the Subway inside was appalling. Nor do they know how to properly salt a pretzel.
Open "satire" letter to Susie VanHooser:
Susie, In your time of grieving, I want you to know I feel compassion for you and your campaign committee. It must be awful to be so close to making the final runoff and come up only a few votes short at the finish line. Although I was on the "right side" of this same situation, I still felt real bad for my opponent who just barely lost to me. It almost caused me to come clean about alleged illegal campaign contributions I accepted from Envision Ogden and FNURE. For the good of Ogden, my law practice and my family, I decided to keep a low profile, deny all wrong doing and do the best I could to support the mayor and city council at that time. The extra $15,000 or so definitely helped put me over the edge to attain my city council position. Why am I writing you? Next election, take the money! Sincerely, Blamememe Johnson
On that note, some may be interested to know that the Attorney General and I have filed cross-complaints in Third District Court over access to Envision Ogden's financial records. These records would probably shed some light on who operated FNURE.
Off thread, but can anyone tell me if the tax revenue coming into the city from Wal-Mart and Winco and the jobs contributed to the city with the closing of Stop and Shop and taking away business from other stores? Was it worth the million spent to clean up the corner of 12th and Wall?
There won't be a recount:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52630596-78/hooser-van-candidates-close.html.csp
"Most Ogden residents only know what the S-E publishes in the daily paper."
I wish that was true, BR. But most Ogdenites don't read the SE or any other daily paper. If it weren't for yard signs and other big visible-while-driving ads, I doubt that one out of two Ogdenites would even be aware that a Mayoral primary election was underway. Betcha if the paper did man-on-the-street random interviews at Wal-Mart downtown some weekday, half those queried from Ogden couldn't name the candidates who made the run off. Or even one of them.
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