As we all know, because we have heard it for years, the Utah County Republican Party has a special understanding of the U.S. Constitution, one in which the rest of us, except for maybe the Kanab residents, can't really comprehend.
But those generous folks south of the prison are doing everything they can to educate the rest of us.
So, at the Utah County Republican Party picnic over the weekend, party leaders had special educational treats for those who stopped by for a burger, a soda pop and a healthy dose of conservatism.
The new education officer for the Utah County GOP, Adrielle Herring, set up an education booth at the picnic and handed out free copies of the U.S. Constitution, the movie “A More Perfect Union“ and Founding Fathers finger puppets.
That's right, finger puppets depicting the founding fathers.
So your hands could carry on lively patriotic debates with, say, Benjamin Franklin on one finger, lecturing to John Adams on the other, with one thumb occupied by Thomas Jefferson and another by his irascible foe, Alexander Hamilton.
The middle finger, of course, would be reserved for Aaron Burr.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly

Incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett came in third place in a straw poll held at the Utah County Republican Party picnic over the weekend, a possible ominous sign about his chances of getting the GOP nomination for his re-election bid next year.
Or, it could mean he just needs to get to work on ground-level campaigning to counter the antis at the neighborhood caucuses next spring where the convention delegates will be decided.
The unscientific straw poll among the party loyalists in Utah County resulted in Attorney General Mark Shurtleff getting 42 percent, Cherilyn Eagar getting 32 percent and Bennett getting 26 percent.
Bennett has been under heavy attack among the ultra conservatives of the party who believe he has been part of the big-spending mentality in Washington. Utah County is one of the most conservative Republican conclaves in the state, so his poor showing in that straw poll doesn't necessarily demonstrate a problem for the three-term senator statewide.
Eagar, in a Facebook entry for her supporters, declared her second-place finish a great victory and a "miracle" since her two opponents have held public office for a number of years and have much better name I.D.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly

The election to determine whether Republican Sen. Bob Bennett will get a fourth term to represent Utahns in Washington is 15 months away, but the good senator is taking no chances. He appears to be almost as aggressive now in wooing voters as when the campaign actually starts heating up next year.
Either that or Bennett is genuinely concerned about everyone's opinions on the doings in Washington, D.C.
Utahns received telephone calls Thursday evening featuring Bennett's pre-recorded voice inviting them to participate in a conference call town meeting, hosted by him and discussing the issues currently swirling around in Congress.
The recipients of the calls were told that if they are not interested, they may simply hang up. But if they wanted to participate, they could stay on the line and let their voices be heard.
Something tells me there will be many more of these things between now and, say November of 2010.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly

First, former Gov. Mike Leavitt was booed in his own Republican State Convention when he was running for re-election in 2000 because he was too liberal. The delegates, weary of his leftist ways, even forced the two-term incumbent into a primary against Glen Davis, who was co-nominated at the convention by "Super Dell" Schanze, the only real American in Utah, according to himself.
Then Sen. Orrin Hatch was booed at the same convention because he was too liberal, that senator who got his start in politics through his association with that left-wing organization, the Freemen Institute, headed by Marxist Cleon Skousen. And Barbara Snow, who seconded Hatch's nomination in that convention, also was bood. She had been president of the LDS Church's radical Relief Society organization.
Now, Sen. Bob Bennett is facing a tough battle for re-election among GOP convention delegates because, many of them say, he is too liberal.
I bring up this history because of a statement I noticed in The Tribune recently.
When the think tank, the Sutherland Institute released a study debunking the belief that undocumented immigrants commit higher rates of crime than other groups, Eli Cawley, president of the Utah Minutemen, summed it all up.
The Sutherland Institute released a misleading study favorable to the undocumented immigrants because it is a "liberal-biased organization.
Yea, that Paul Mero, president of the Sutherland Institute, bears an erie resemblance to Che Guevara.
And look at their radical causes. They opposed hate crimes legislation that protected gays and lesbians, released a thesis defending marriage as an institution between a man and a woman, fought to prevent unions from getting dues through automatic deductions of state payrolls and consistently argue the pro-life side of the abortion debate.
Boy are they liberal.
Their favorite panel participants from the Legislature seem to be Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, and Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper — commies through and through.
Remember when Barry Goldwater ran for president in 1964 and was considered a radical right-winger, then by the 1990s he wouldn't have gotten a whiff of consideration for the nomination because he was too liberal?
Cheers,
Paul Rolly

For years, Utah legislators have enjoyed free tickets to Utah Jazz games courtesy of corporate lobbyists whose clients buy season tickets them hand them out like candy to the lawmakers to curry favor.
Now, at least one legislator is asking the lobbyists to show a little love to the Jazz organization itself, and most specifically to its late owner Larry Miller, who passed away during the most reason Jazz season.
Sen. John Valentine, R-Provo, has invited about 50 lobbyists and legislators to a luncheon today to launch a fund-raising campaign for a Larry Miller monument to be placed at EnergySolutions Arena.
Valentine is a co-chair with Paul Swenson of Colonial Flag of the fund-raising campaign, which will raise money for the monument through the Utah Track and Field Foundation. They hope to raise about $800,000 to design and construct a bronze state of Miller with six panels behind him symbolizing various aspects of his contribution to the community.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly

Mindful that he will be in a tough fight at his own party's convention next year when he tries to equal his father's tenure of four terms in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Bob Bennett is walking a tight rope between showing how his seniority and clout in the Senate benefits Utah and deflecting his critics' claims that he has become too much of a Washington insider.
To show his clout, Bennett announced last week that he successfully passed a number of Utah funding projects in Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies to secure more than $8 million for the Beehive State in Fiscal Year 2010.
He was able to secure in the budget an additional $1 million for construction at the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah and $1.5 million to continue development of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. In addition, Bennett announced he secured about $6 million in land acquisitions and public works grants.
Bennett has a proud history of steering federal money to Utah for needed projects and he played a significant role in getting the funding needed to complete the Trax light rail line in Salt Lake City in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
But success comes with a price and a strong conservative wing in Utah's GOP sees the influx of federal appropriations to local projects as a camel's back-breaking addition to the crushing national debt.
These conservatives, which will have a strong voice in next year's convention, decry these projects as wasteful government spending, hence earmark-basher Jason Chaffetz' upset victory over 12-year incumbent Chris Cannon in the GOP Primary last year.
So what can Bennett do? Probably what he has been doing, working to represent the state's interests the best he can and let the Cowboy Caucus cow chips fall where they may.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly

I'm told there is a groundswell of support building for State Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, to be Gary Herbert's lieutenant governor once Herbert, the current lieutenant governor, is sworn in as governor upon the departure of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., soon to be the next U.S. ambassador to China.
While a number of names our out there and Herbert has many options to chose from for his number two person, support is solidifying around Bell for a number of reasons.
An attorney by training with a profession in real estate, Bell was the mayor of Farmington for eight years before he was elected to the Senate in 2002. He only is in the middle of his second term in the Senate, but already has been elevated to leadership by his peers as the assistant majority whip.
Bell is a conservative legislator, but is moderate enough that he does not come across as offensive to either side of hot-button issues, supporters say. And, from a purely political point of view, he has geography on his side.
Republican pundits say that realistically, when Herbert runs to retain the governor's seat in 2010, he needs a running mate from either Davis or Washington County, two Republican strongholds which have the population and economic and political clout to be significant in the Republican Convention and in a primary or general election.
Utah County, is equally significant for Republicans, but that is Herbert's home county and conventional wisdom argues against having a gubernatorial candidate and lieutenant governor running mate from the same county.
Two other legislators who would be attractive lieutenant governor possibilities are Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack of Syracuse, another Davis County lawmaker, and House Speaker David Clark of Santa Clara in Washington County. But I'm told both of those legislative leaders might want to remain in their current positions, from where they could run for higher office in their own right if they have those kinds of ambitions.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly