Comments on: Utah: Red State, Moderate GOP Leadership

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:30:11 +0000

dfl:

I can’t think of any politician in 1964 who advocated gay rights, gays in the military or abortion rights.

Sure, but that was a different time entirely. Times change. And Goldwater showed he could change with the times.

By: DFL

DFL — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:53:27 +0000

The Goldwater that was for gay rights and abortion rights as a retired 80 year old ex-senator in the last decade of his life would never have been nominated by the Republicans in 1964 supporting either proposition. I can’t think of any politician in 1964 who advocated gay rights, gays in the military or abortion rights. George McGovern in 1972 was the first major presidential candidate to hint at abortion rights and he was wiped out by Richard Nixon.

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:45:09 +0000

richer:

Best embodied by Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and, slightly less so, John McCain, Western Republicanism is distinguished from its Southern counterpart by its ideology of strict limited government and its willingness to compromise.

The hallmark of Goldwater-style Republicanism was social libertarianism --that the government should do nothing to invade personal privacy. For example, Goldwater, slammed in 1964 for being an "extremist," was in favor of gay rights and gays in the military. Goldwater wasn't known for being a compromiser ("Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice"). Libertarians aren't compromisers. They are just unyielding in their defense of personal privacy. Utah is a poor exemplar of that, with its strict Mormonism. The best example of that is Arizona, the home of both Goldwater and McCain. Another example is Nevada, where by state law, brothels are legal if counties choose to allow it.

By: DFL

DFL — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:00:11 +0000

I can’t see a moderate Utah Republican who had served the Obama Administration as an ambassador winning a Republican nomination as president. As for being asked to be a vice-presidential nominee, I can’t see that any politician from Utah being added to a national ticket. Utah hasn’t been in play since 1964.

By: Utah: Bastion of Moderate Republicans | Republicans United.

Utah: Bastion of Moderate Republicans | Republicans United. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:49:48 +0000

[...] Stephen Richer over at New Majority explains how one of the reddest states in the Union is able to elect reasonable Republicans. [...]

By: noufa

noufa — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:07:36 +0000

wsnw-how is UT a cautionary tale? Cannon was replaced with a Republican.

By: Observer

Observer — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:42:10 +0000

Ok, so dfl, *why* does Huntsman have no future on a national ticket?

By: wsnw

wsnw — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:20:02 +0000

As a Utah resident, I don’t really understand this post, either. The Republican establishment in this state is absolutely savaging these politicians for being too moderate, even though by all national standards they are some of the most extreme right wing conservatives in government today (well, except for Huntsman, who was wisely co-opted by the Obama administration).

To illustrate, right now it looks like Bennett may not hold his position because he has been successfully labeled a Democrat loving liberal. As stated above, Chris Cannon — highest on all conservative meters in the land — was tossed out for being a pork living commie.

Utah isn’t a guiding light for moderate Republicanism. Its a written warning for what happens when extremists and zealots are allowed to take over an entire region, and the crazyland it has produced should be carefully studied.

By: DFL

DFL — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:49:08 +0000

Conservatives got Cannon and they’re going to get Bennett. Huntsman has no future on a national ticket. Perhaps he’ll get Hatch’s senate seat and perhaps not.