On Friday April 2nd I went to a debate between the candidates running for Utah senate in 2010. I will give you a brief summary of what I gleaned from the debate for anyone interested.
Bennett - Senator Bennett is the incumbent. He hates the Health Care bill, supports earmark spending as long as it is done out in the open and not behind closed doors. He encourages discussion and disagreement on understanding and interpreting the constitution.
Bradley - Constitution Party member. As expected he is a strict constitutionalist. He supports a return to a strict interpretation of the constitution and is completely against stretching the necessary and proper clause.
Bridgewater - Formerly worked in the treasury of the Reagan administration. He is for a fair tax. Against special interest earmark spending. Said that the necessary and proper clause was meant to limit not open it up for congress to do whatever it wants.
Chiu - It was hard to figure out what made Chiu unique because he spent the whole time talking about patriotism, freedom, values, and invoking God. But he didn't really come down on any issues except the ones that everybody agreed on.
Cook - Served as one of Utah's reps previously. Hates the Fed and is for either a flat tax or a fair tax. Hates the IRS. He is in favor of cutting government programs that don't belong there such as the department of eduation and department of commerce.
Eager - Lots of energy. Does not like globalism. Hates the federal government taking Utah's land. Against free trade, instead for something she calls fair trade. Wants a return to Reaganomics. Wants the states to decide individually how they want to raise federal funds.
Fabiano - In favor of term limits (as most of the candidates were). Will not accept wages if elected. Hates Obamacare. He reminds me a bit of Ron Paul.
Friedbaum - Admitted he was there just to provide a negative view of Senator Bennett. Pretty much just made jokes the whole time. The word that comes to mind is crackpot.
Lee - Similar to Eager and Cook though less animated and dedicated. Supports the balance budget ammendment. Supports a 1 year ban on all earmarks.
Stout - Democrat. Very focused on the national debt. He says limited the government alone can not reduce the debt. Thinks the Judiciary has too much power.
In my opinion Bennett, Cook, and Eager made the best impression on me personally. Stout, Friedbaum, and Chiu are at the bottom of the list and the others are somewhere in between.
Thank you for taking your time for such a thoughtful analysis. However, I, too, am a newly elected state delegate and have had the opportunity to meet with most candidates one-on-one.
ReplyDeleteMy experiences parallel yours, but my conclusions are a bit different. I have found Tim Bridgewater to be the better choice for our next Senator. Whereas a strong knowledge and academic background in Constitutional law is admirable, it is not practical at this turning point in history.
Utah needs to elect an official with public and private sector experience who can bring fiscal change and balance budgets to Washington D.C. I believe Mr. Bridgewater can do this as he had demonstrated successfully time and again in over 20+ years of international business. Not just rhetorically as other candidates.
May 8th's Convention will be the beginning of the next revolution.
After talking with most of the Republican candidates, I was torn between Lee and Bridgewater. The deciding factor for me was Bridgewater's business background as opposed to Lee's law background. I'm actually a lawyer, but I think that Bridgewater's practical, commonsense understanding of business and the constitution is what we need to fix America, especially our economy. Lee on the other hand seems to have a theoretical understanding of the constitution that is largely influenced by the flawed jurisprudence of the last 80 years and he has no practical business background. I think Eagar is passionate but doesn't have an in depth knowledge of the issues that will allow her to correctly apply her passion. Bennett's voting record speaks for itself so I ruled him out ages ago.
ReplyDeleteI saw the same debate, but had a little different reaction. Eagar is certainly fiery, but I don't see how her opposition to free trade squares with Reaganomics.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the candidate combining theoretical knowledge of government with the practical business experience needed is Tim Bridgewater.
I look forward to hearing more from him in the future.
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Thank you everyone for your comments, I deleted those with no substance or that pertained to the poll because my intent in posting political blog posts is not to foster anger and argument over unimportant matters.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the three comments remaining. I liked Bridgewater and Lee both, probably Lee a little bit more, but for me passion and drive goes a long way. Cook and Eager were the only two that seemed willing to actually make bold moves, which is what brings real change in my opinion. I would easily support Cook, Eager, Lee, or Bridgewater over Bennett though. The reason I said he made a good impression on me is because I think he did a pretty good job answering the questions, but thank you for pointing out his voting record. I did not intend for a moment to advocate my support for Bennett though I'm afraid if may have come off that way.