A plan to have potential Republican candidates vetted and judged based on their commitment to the party's principles before being eligible for its nomination is drawing fire from some in the GOP who say it empowers a small elite group of insiders to decide who gets to be a candidate.Read up, Peeps! And no! We are NOT making this up!
Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans said the idea of creating committees to help screen potential candidates springs from concern that, under the state's new nominating process, people who aren't even Republicans could gather signatures and get onto the primary ballot and the party would be helpless to stop them.
To combat that, Evans said candidates would have to come meet with the interview committees to become certified members of the GOP. If they refuse, they would be ineligible to be a candidate for the Republican nomination, he said, because the law says the candidates have to be a party member.
That's right! "$10,000 and a panel interview, just like Thomas Jefferson (and our other founding fathers) always wanted."
On the heels of last week's strong Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune editorials, together with Sunday's Frank Pignanelli/LaVarr Webb D-News Op-ed piece, we'd hoped Chairman Evens would gather his wits, and start playing amiably by "the new rules."
Sadly, these "gentle nudgings" seem to have had just just the opposite effect.
First order of "new business" for the upcoming 8/15/15 Utah GOP State convention?
Oust this idiot, before he irretrievably turns the Utah GOP into a dead-ender laughing stock!
Wake up before its too late, my Utah GOP friends!
Update 4/22/15 7:51 a.m.: Utah Policy chimes in this morning with a story of its own. Don't miss the embedded audio of Monday's KVNU radio program, wherein "state Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Bountiful, was a guest, talking about possible changes to party vetting of candidates, when Chairman Evans called in – and the two had an interesting debate":
Update 4/22/15 2:15 p.m.: The Trib's Pat Bagley "NAILS IT, once again (as per usual):
Update 4/23/15 10:30 a.m.: The Tribune keeps the pressure on with this morning's scathing house editorial:
Update 4/23/15 10:30 a.m.: The Tribune keeps the pressure on with this morning's scathing house editorial:
And the Deseret News reports this morning on yesterday's Utah GOP Executive Committee "train-wreck":
Update 4/23/15 7:51 a.m.: More from ABC4 Utah, focusing on the tactical split which is now occurring within in the "fractured" Utah GOP:
Update 4/25/15 8:00 a.m.: More blowback from the Tribune's Paul Rolley:
It gets "interestinger and interestinger,"dunnit?
