Monday, May 05, 2008

Packed House
The caucus meeting to decide the fate of Sen. Chris Buttars at the Salt Lake County GOP convention devolved into a testy game of musical chairs Saturday, as delegates jockeyed for position in the packed meeting room. The party officials conducting the meeting repeatedly demanded that those who were not delegates get out of the chairs and leave the room to make way for the delegates, who were lining the back walls and sitting on the floor at the front of the room.

Some delegates demanded to see the credentials of those seated in the hall, and after a few were initially chased out, an impasse was reached.

The tug-of-war continued for a good 20 minutes, with a fair amount of griping and grumbling. An official from the South Towne Center hosting the event had to come in and clear people away from the aisles and the emergency exit, and cleared a path among the dozens standing at the door hoping to watch the balloting.

One keen delegate finally captured the obvious hopelessness of the exercise: There were about 170 seats in the room for the 204 delegates in the Senate district.

Another 10 minutes passed before County Party Chairman James Evans announced that everyone would march back into the main assembly hall where the election speeches were given from the main stage.


No Tongue
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has mended fences with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, after Reid blasted Utah and Arizona for failing to act more aggressively to crack down on polygamy. But he told the Republican audience that when Reid called and said he wanted "to kiss and make up," it kind of grossed him out.

He also took a shot at Reid for telling KUER's Doug Fabrizio that Utah and Arizona should be "ashamed," for not doing more to fight polygamy. As Shurtleff saw it, with Reid's homestate allowing legalized prostitution and gambling, that's something like Paris Hilton saying she's ashamed of Miley Cyrus.

Everyone is up in arms, of course, over the photos of Cyrus' naked back, claiming it objectifies underage girls. Maybe the 15-year-old bubble gum princess would be better off if she lived in an FLDS community, where she could be the fully clothed mother of two.


Vote Cook for Whatever
The approach to the South Towne Center was lined with signs from all sorts of candidates, including a surprising number that said "Merrill Cook for U.S. Congress." It's an even year, so Cook is running for something, of course, this time for the GOP nod to take on Rep. Jim Matheson in the 2nd District.

The signs, however, are leftovers from his last campaign, where he took on 3rd District Rep. Chris Cannon for the Republican nomination.


Power Failure
Rep. Sylvia Anderson had a veritable Murderers Row on her team as she tried to stave off a challenge from LaVar Christensen, who held the seat before his failed challenge to U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson.

Standing with her as she addressed delegates Saturday were Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble; House Rules Committee Chairman Steve Urquhart; Rep. Becky Lockhart, the wife of the state party chairman; Rep. Lorie Fowlke; and Sen. Wayne Neiderhauser, who represents the Sandy district.

But the Mighty Caseys struck out in this case, as Christensen, who stood and delivered his speech alone, routed Anderson in a 70-30 percent vote to capture the nomination.

Christensen did allude in his speech to a seperate endorsement gaffe by Anderson, who included Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert among her supporters in her literature. Herbert said he likes Anderson, but hadn't signed off on the endorsement and, to balance the battle, wrote a letter praising Christensen's candidacy, as well.

-- Robert Gehrke