Thank you Pete Ashdown, Christian Burridge, and Steve Olsen

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Submitted by lucidity on Wed, 11/08/2006 - 10:49am.

It's very difficult to beat an incumbent member of Congress — even with yesterday's Blue Wave of 2006, most incumbents kept their seats. Pete Ashdown, Christian Burridge, and Steve Olsen knew they would be fighting an uphill battle in their races, but they ran anyway. And while the outcome of those races was never really in doubt, their candidacies paved the way for future races. All three men helped get the Democratic message out to voters and showed Utahns that Democrats are intelligent, reasonable, trustworthy, and, most importantly, share their values.

Hatch, Cannon, and Bishop won't be in Congress forever, and when those seats open up, our candidates will be ready — with name recognition, with campaign experience, and with a positive impression in the minds of voters.

Thanks to all three of you for running a great race.

Their performance was awesome - look at the numbers

#355 On Wed, 11/08/2006 12:50pm UtahOwl said,

Get over the black/white, win/lose talking heads' take on Utah elections. Burridge and Olsen each took 32% of the vote. Pete Ashdown took 31 % from Orrin Hatch, spending $300,000 to Ole Orrin's $3 million. All 3 were coming from nowhere, with no name recognition or money. Can you imagine what the outcome might have been with real resources and a lot more media attention?
Props to Howard Dean's belief in grassroots work in all 50 states - I saw so much more activism of progressives on the precinct, county and state level this year than 2 years ago, even though this was a midterm election. It's making a difference here in Utah, as well as in other states. In 2008, we take down Bishop & Cannon.

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Sorry, but

#358 On Wed, 11/08/2006 4:51pm lucidity said,

32% isn't very impressive when registered Dems in Utah are about 25%. If any of them had broken 40%, that would be "awesome". With real resources and more media attention, I expect the races would have ended up about the same, because voters are generally happy with all three incumbents (except Cannon, which might be why he got 6% less than Bishop).

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Thank you Pete!

#357 On Wed, 11/08/2006 4:28pm emoticon said,

Indeed, these men have demonstrated that one doesn't have to be a billionaire to run...I have tremendous respect for Mr. Olsen, Mr. Burridge and Mr. Ashdown. I honor each of them. They showed that ethics and integrity still have a place in this world of politics.

When I saw Pete leaving the ballroom last night, his beautiful heart and spirit were evident. He and his wife were holding hands, and they both were so clearly genuine. He, of all the candidates (including the winners) brought *Hope* back into politics. For that I am grateful, and will put my name on his list of volunteers for whichever race he chooses next time.

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