Democratic Party

A Tiny Revolution:

[T]he Democrats operate according to the Iron Law of Institutions. The Iron Law of Institutions is: the people who control institutions care first and foremost about their power within the institution rather than the power of the institution itself. Thus, they would rather the institution "fail" while they remain in power within the institution than for the institution to "succeed" if that requires them to lose power within the institution.

This is true for all human institutions, from elementary schools up to the United States of America. If history shows anything, it's that this cannot be changed. What can be done, sometimes, is to force the people running institutions to align their own interests with those of the institution itself and its members.

Pretty much explains the actions of Congressional Democrats, 2000–2006. A weak-kneed Democratic Party is fine with them as long as they still get their perks.

Utdemocrats.org has the results of the national delegate elections for Utah's Obama and Clinton delegates as well as the election for national committeewoman (Patrice Arent) and committeeman (Joe Hatch).

Salt Lake Tribune:

Buttars escaped a primary contest with the strongest of his rivals, Gary Armstrong, by a single vote at the Salt Lake County Republican Convention. One ballot was discarded because the delegate had apparently marked both names. The two-term incumbent now goes on to face Democrat John Rendell in the November general election.

Armstrong did not challenge the discarding of a spoiled ballot even though, had it been added to his total, it would have put him over the 40 percent mark to force a primary in June.

But he expressed bitter disappointment at the race's outcome.

"Our district can't survive four more years of Chris Buttars. I will support the Democrat," said Armstrong.

Republican delegates and party activists tend to be farther right on the political spectrum than Republican voters as a whole, so we can expect Buttars' support in the general to be even less than what he got at the convention.

Washington Post:

"Vote for Change" will summon the volunteer army that Obama has amassed in the 47 states and territories that have already held primaries or caucuses this year, along with the nine yet to come. Deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand described the effort as a "sustained six-month campaign" aimed at driving up turnout for all Democratic candidates in November. [...]

Hildebrand cited Wyoming as an example. The March 8 caucus state got little attention from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and it's a long shot as a Democratic pickup in the presidential election. But Obama, who beat Clinton in Wyoming easily, built a volunteer team there that can now be dispatched to aid Gary Trauner, who lost a 2006 race for the state's at-large House seat by 1,000 votes. Trauner has a better shot this year: The GOP incumbent who beat him, Rep. Barbara Cubin, is retiring. "We're looking for opportunities beyond the presidential campaign," Hildebrand said.

Also see the Wall Street Journal:

[Obama's] campaign also just announced a 50-state voter mobilization. That reflects another pitch to nonelected party officials: That Sen. Obama would work to build the party even in Republican "red" states, and has the money to do it, while Sen. Clinton focuses only on Democratic "blue" states and battlegrounds such as Ohio.

Interviews with party officials suggest this appeal has effectively exploited lingering resentments that the DNC, under President Clinton, abandoned the red states. "Obama has made it absolutely clear he's committed to the 50-state strategy, and the Clintons obviously aren't," says Nebraska party chairman Steve Achepohl, who endorsed Sen. Obama last week. "That's a major factor for all the party people in smaller states."

Salt Lake Tribune:

The intra-party squabble seems to have intensified since January, when Burridge accepted a time-consuming litigation job at the law firm Siegfried & Jensen.

While Democratic leaders gave few specifics about Burridge's ouster, board member Ellen Birrell said Thursday the outgoing chairman simply did not have the time to serve as an effective party boss.

"We have so much momentum, we have got to do everything possible to preserve it," she said. "That will take someone in the leadership role who can devote those many, many hours each week."

Apparently 1st Vice Chair Weston Clark now takes over as chair.

Update: From an e-mail sent out on behalf of Weston late Thursday:

As First Vice Chair for the party, I am Acting Chair and intend to seek the approval of the Central Committee to continue serving as Chair. This will take place at the Central Committee Meeting, which will be part of the County Convention on April 26. If anyone is interested in running for the position of Chair, nominations should be submitted to Angela Romero, Secretary, Salt Lake County Democratic Party, via email at angela_y_romero@yahoo.com or call 801-973-2250 to make other arrangements for submission.

That's one more superdelegate for Obama (Salt Lake Tribune):

Holland is one of six Utah superdelegates who can decide whom to support for the Democratic nominee regardless of the results of the state primary. But in explaining his decision, Holland leaned heavily on Obama's big win in Utah's Feb. 5 vote.

"Sen. Obama has helped to energize our state party," Holland said in a statement. "While we are blessed at having two exceptional candidates, Obama was clearly the choice of Utah Democrats."

Utah's other five superdelegates remain split. Former U.S. Rep. Bill Orton is backing Obama, while former state Sen. Karen Hale and state party committeewoman Helen Langan are backing Clinton. Though, Hale and Langan are considering a switch to Obama.

Rep. Jim Matheson remains undecided. Holland will name the sixth superdelegate during the state Democratic convention in May.

Ralph Becker and Peter Corroon, as well as our own Political Action Committee chair Sheryl Ginsberg, have applied to be some of Utah's 23 pledged delegates (Salt Lake Tribune):

Paul Rolly in the Salt Lake Tribune:

The Utah Republican Party seems to be in a battle for its political soul.

Fifteen Republican incumbents in the state House of Representatives are facing stiff challenges from within their own party. Of the nine Republican incumbents who are up for re-election in the State Senate, five are being challenged by fellow Republicans.

For the first time in memory, all 75 House seats are contested, while in the Senate, only President John Valentine, R-Provo, escaped with no challenger at all. [...]

One telling feature of this year's political climate is that while many Republicans have GOP opponents, the most outspoken anti-voucher Republicans — Reps. Sheryl Allen, Kory Holdaway, Steve Mascaro, Mel Brown and Kay McIff — have no Republican opponent. That is a shift from past years when moderate Republicans were the ones being targeted in GOP conventions by the armies of the right.

Getting more Democrats in the legislature would be great, but replacing the extremist conservatives with more moderate Republicans wouldn't be bad either.

Salt Lake City Weekly has published its yearly "Best of Utah" issue, and you'll recognize several of this year's winners (all of these are under the Media & Politics section):

• Best BYU Event – Dick Cheney Protest, April 2007

• Best Cash Infusion – Out-of-State School-Voucher Advocates
  
• Best Air Activist – Dr. Brian Moench (he spoke at our February meetup)
  
• Best Activist – Rocky Anderson
  
• Best Elected Official – Ralph Becker (Readers' Choice)
  
• Best State Legislator – Scott McCoy (Readers' Choice)
  
• Best Capital Kook – Chris Buttars
  
• Best Reason to Unionize – Crandall Canyon Mine Disaster
  
• Best Local Scandal – Anything Chris Buttars Says

The Deseret News takes a break from reporting on American Idol contestants to evaluate how often our state legislators actually manage to vote on bills:

The analysis shows that the typical legislator made it to three of every four votes in committee, and nine of every 10 on the floor. It shows, in this election year, who were the best attendees and the worst. But it also revealed some strange happenings. They include:

• Because of rules loopholes to accommodate legislative leaders, a surprising number of committee votes occur without a majority of committee members present. Sometimes as few as two members of a six-member committee were present for votes, but it was still considered a legal quorum.

• In half of all joint appropriations subcommittees votes, fewer than a majority of Senate members assigned to that committee were present. (Sometimes only one senator was present to represent the Senate in such budget votes.) House members have long complained that poor attendance at such meetings by their Senate counterparts make it difficult to conduct business. Some budget chairmen have resorted to holding votes at only the last meeting or two of the session, making it easier to round up wayward senators for a quorum.
  
• The lowest voting percentages are by legislative leaders, who say they are often pulled away for meetings on individual important issues. The leaders' attendance in their assigned committees is often much worse than, say, regular members who are battling a serious illness, like cancer.