Candidate Survey: NRA

The NRA sent me their candidate questionnaire this week. Here are the results:

We're locked and loaded.

Union Attitudes

I found this video online of an SEIU worker talking to the California legislature. I think this video shows a candid moment that exposes the attitudes of many unions.

Boxing: Neil Hansen Tries to Take Down Brad Dee

Interesting developments from Neil Hansen's camp today. I thought he was done with attacks on Republican leadership with his press conference calling for Speaker Clark to resign. Clearly, I was mistaken. This week he filed criminal charges against Brad Dee saying that Dee threatened his brother's job.

Here is a video of the Channel 4 story:



It looks like a case of he-said-he-said.

I agree with Neil when he says that legislators need to be held accountable for what they do. That is exactly why I am running against him.

We are off to the races!

Weber County Convention Roundup

I attended the Weber County Republican Convention yesterday as a candidate.  It was held at the Browning Center at Weber State University.

It was great to see so many delegates attend the convention this year.  You could feel the energy in the room.  There was a certain "electricty" to the event this year that was missing two years ago.

One of the most interesting parts of the convention was listening to candidates for the Senate speak to us.  Their fate will be decided at the State Convention on May 8.

Tim Bridgewater



Tim give a pretty impressive speech. However, he has not campaigned heavily in Weber County and so his straw poll result was only 10%.

Leonard Fabiano
(no Video)

Leonard gave a very good speech. I wished my camera had enough room to record it. Although a completely unknown candidate prior to his speech, he was running on the honorable principles of refusing campaign contributions and he refused to be compensated for office if elected. He seemed like a nice man. His straw poll result was only around 5%.

Merrill Cook
(no Video)

Merrill gave a speech that I wished I had recorded but for the opposite reasons. Each candidate had three minutes to make their pitch. If they went over, the audience was instructed to start clapping. Merrill rambled about his past experience, didn't make any cohesive points, and then was cutoff by a clapping audience. Poor performance. Merrill received few votes.

Jeremy Friedbaum
(no Video)

Mr. Friedbaum gets the Persona Non Grata Award. In a very self-righteous and yet disingenuous tone, he thanked Bob Bennett for his work and asked the delegates to raise their hands if they were going to support another candidate. This was booed down by the audience. He then tried another ploy by telling the audience that their applause should not be for him but for congratulating Mr. Bennett on the end of his career. As Mr. Friedbaum walked off stage there was only a smattering of applause.

Mike Lee



Mike gave a good speech. He is my personal favorite for this race.

Bob Bennett



Bob gave a good speech. His 2-year warning on our deteriorating national fiscal status was poignant. However, it's time for Bob to go. In December 2008, I sat at the lunch table with Bob Bennett and the Weber County Republican Executive Committee. It was a Q and A session. I was able to ask the second question to Mr Bennett which was: "How do you reconcile your vote for T.A.R.P. with conservative government values?" Mr. Bennett proceeded to filibuster the lunch and refused to answer my question or any additional ones. This type of behavior is why he is in trouble right now. Despite this he received 22% of the straw poll vote.

Cherilyn Eager



Unfortunately, my camera cut off the rest of her speech.

Cherilyn presented herself very well at first. She was very comfortable on stage and made a solid presence. Where she lost me was on substance. She told us that we should vote for her because, according to people she talked to in Washington D.C., they are "desperate for a conservative woman in the Senate." So she was telling us that the meaningful difference between her and the other candidates was that she was a woman and that should be enough to earn our vote. Pardon me, but what if Bob Bennett got up there and said we should vote for him because he is a man? Cherilyn's argument, in my opinion, is unfortunate and also shows she is easily swayed by the crowd in Washington D.C.. True conservatives don't preach affirmative action.  They preach equal opportunity and action based on merit. It's sadly ironic for her ask for our vote based on principles of affirmative action. 

For more videos of the convention go to my YouTube Channel.

Candidate Survey: Equality Utah

As a candidate for state office, one of the things you need to deal with is a deluge of surveys and candidate questionnaires.  Some are from groups you have heard about, like the UEA, and others are much more obscure, like Pink Guns (a pro gun-pro homosexuality group in SLC).  Part of the dilemma is trying to figure out which ones to respond do and which ones not.

That brings me to today's survey.  Rather than letting you wonder where I stand on certain issues, I thought it would be useful to post my survey responses here and then elaborate on the positions taken since little opportunity is given elsewhere to do so.


Equality Utah sent me a questionnaire about my perspectives on the homosexual rights agenda (click to enlarge):

As you can tell, I am not holding my breath for an endorsement.  However, some of the questions deserve more comment.

Here are the topics covered in the survey:

Anti-Discrimination Housing Laws

Two of the questions regarded anti-discrimination housing laws.  I don't think they are necessary because I don't believe that discrimination is a real problem in our community.  I have rented to "alternative lifestyle" tenants before and had a very good experience being their landlord.  As far as I am concerned, asking about sexual orientation on a rental application and rejecting applications based on orientation is simply a poor business practice and because of that, I do not believe it is happening at a discernible level in our community.  

Benefits

Two questions regarded a same-sex couple's right to share health insurance and inherit property.  There is no law currently barring someone from willing their property to someone else upon death.  Therefore changing inheritance laws is unnecessary.  Also, health insurance companies have the right to choose whether to cover same-sex couples under different policy guidelines than traditional couples.  This is a matter for the private markets, not the government.

Domestic Partnerships

I am unsure what this question was getting at.  Do people have the right to enter into a same-sex relationship and cohabitate?  Sure.  Does that require an act of the legislature to condone?  It does not.

Child Care

Two of the questions regarded allowing same-sex couples to adopt and provide foster care.  I am absolutely opposed to this idea.  History has proven that children are best reared in a home with a father and a mother.  Creating and condoning yet another less than perfect situation, which can be likened to the unfortunate cases of single-parent households, exposes children to challenges that would prove detrimental to future generations.

Hospital Visits

Finally, one of the questions regarded hospital visits.  I believe this should be handled on a hospital basis and not through the legislature.  I think its reasonable that friends and family, however defined, should be able to visit the sick.  Perhaps lobbying these institutions would bear results without resorting to the legislature for recourse.