Musings of a Patriot

Category: politics

  • Perspective on Palin Endorsing Hatch

    I was a little surprised at the news that Sarah Palin had endorsed Orrin Hatch. It’s not that I had expected her to endorse Dan Liljenquist, just that I would not have expected her to see an entrenched, entitled incumbent as the type of person who could fix what’s wrong in Washington. As I thought…

  • We Need a New Generation in Washington

    Investors Business Daily has a pro-Hatch propaganda piece up that deserves a few tweaks. First, the headline says that republicans must gain control of Congress for the economy to recover. Do we really need to remind everyone that Republicans had almost uninterrupted control of Congress from 1995 to 2007. Had Republicans retained control of Congress…

  • Campaign Platform of the President the Nation Needs

    The other day I was sitting on a bus with time to let my mind wander. I was thinking about our presidential campaign season and the ideas being promoted by our current candidates – including our current president – when I found myself considering what kind of a president I think our nation needs –…

  • Addressing Abysmal Voter Turnout

    Would non-partisan runoffs be a possible solution to address our declining levels of voter participation in Utah?

  • Perceived Electability and IRV – A Case Study

    As a followup to last night’s special election to fill Dan Liljenquist’s term as State Senator, I noticed some interesting things based on my interactions with other delegates and my review of the actual results (round-by-round, not just the final tally). First let me provide some metrics that some people might be interested in –…

  • Special Election – Senate District 23

    Regardless of who is ends up finishing the state senate term that Dan Liljenquist was elected for there is one campaign promises that I would hold them to even if the eventual winner did not make this promise personally: to make representation a two way street by actively providing information to constituents during the session…

  • Please Don’t Vote

    Voting is no panacea. If we don’t do the work that needs to be the foundation of voting it can do more harm than good.

  • Redistricting in Ut(opia)

    I have been watching the redistricting process with interest although I have not been able to be as vocal in the discussions as I might have wished. This late in the process we can see the forces at work and the concerns being raised. On top of that, I have been asked how I think…

  • Marginal Logic for Same-Sex Marriage

    I’m a big fan of the CATO Institute and their perspective on constitutional government but no matter how much I may generally agree with them, that cannot give them a free pass to use use absolutely terrible logic to promote a position. You’ll have to take my word for it that I would dislike the…

  • Failure of the American Voter

    I’ve been thinking about the massive disconnect between the abysmal ratings that Congress enjoys (8% approval I recently read) and the virtual invincibility of Congressional incumbents (incumbents consistently win 90% of the elections where they seek reelection). I realized that the apparent disconnect was not as stark as it first appeared (11 out of 12…