Thursday, March 20, 2008

Kudos to The Utah Democratic Party

Looking at the slate of candidates which the party recruited this year, some real praise is due those who worked so hard to recruit candidates for office. Particularly in the legislative races, I'm glad to see that most Republicans, even in strongly Republican districts will face a contest. The importance of these contests is to force Republicans to spend money on their own campaigns, rather than distribute that money to other campaigns.

Democrats have learned how to put together aggressive campaigns with nominal expense but I'm sure that these candidates can use campaign donations and those who can contribute, I hope they do. A campaign donation in a legislative race can go a long way and even small contributions are encouraged.

More than anything, I'm encouraged that there are many well educated, former Republicans beginning to fill Democratic ranks. The lack of accountability, transparency, and vision of Utah's Legislature, and the arrogance with which so many legislators have operated, is creating a tangible backlash and I believe Democrats will do better than people expect this year.

To the candidates who have thrown their hat in the ring, I tip my own hat to you. Running for office can be both exciting and draining. But in the end, I believe it makes you a better citizen, if even you go down in defeat. You have invested in our Republic in a way that is significant by putting your own name out there, willing to face rejection.

And again, kudos to Wayne Holland, Rob Miller and the rest of the Democratic leadership for a job well done as far as candidate recruitment.

1 comment:

just-commenting said...

I, too am encouraged by more people filing who offer me a choice. After a lifetime as a Republican-leaning independent, I became disgusted with what happened when the red-neck loonies at the extreme right hi-jacked the party. This is nothing like the party of Eisenhower of my high-school and college days.

My congressional and governor votes for the past 5 decades have been quite evenly split between D and R, but I am hoping for a slate of responsible (not just one-issue) Democrats who might be able to stem the foul tide that seems to be sweeping the Republican party along. We have a man up here whom I can happily support in opposition to Rob Bishop.