He's BaaAAAck....

So it's been a long time since I last posted. I stopped blogging when Utah County GOP Chair, Taylor Oldroyd asked me to be on the UTCO Steering Committee. I felt it was just too difficult to blog and still maintain a sense of neutrality among the various elected officials, initiatives, and candidates. So I took a break.

A little over a month ago I realized I was just too busy with family, work, and everything else to really be useful and effective on the Steering Committee so I resigned. I really did enjoy serving on the SC. The SC had some real lively discussion and it was a great opportunity to have influence on the direction of the county party. There really is a diversity of ideas on the Committee which I think is a good thing.

I'm looking forward to blogging a bit more regularly again. So for the two people who occasionally read this blog before - Thanks

Thoughts on the senate race so far

So the Trib ran its obligatory Bennett (insert any incumbent really) outspends their opponents article this morning. You can see it here: Bennett spends 20 times his opponents.

I think people over estimate the role money plays in campaigns - especially the media. They love those stories. Don't get me wrong, marketing budgets are a huge part of a campaign's success. But Jason Chaffetz proved that you don't need big bucks to win.

For me the most interesting sentence in the whole article is the last from Kirk Jowers director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics: "The bigger problem for candidates like Eagar and Lee is that their message has been so tailored to the far right that it may not appeal to mainstream Republicans."

I know I'm from Utah County so I'm supposed to like Mike Lee - and I do - a lot. But right now I'm kind of leaning Tim Bridgewater. Although I have some concerns I don't worry too much about electing a candidate that is too far out of the mainstream. But for me as a partner in a small business Tim's message of knowing what it's like to make a payroll really resonates with me.

In a recent Forbes article the SBA announced that 30% of all small businesses fail in the first two years - 50% within five. I don't get the sense that Lee, Bennett, certainly not Eagar understand or fully appreciate how hard it is to run a small business. And really, small and medium sized businesses are what fuel job creation.

At this point in the campaign it seems like all of the GOP challengers are on board with a return to conservative/constitutional principles. I'm looking for something that further distinguishes them though, and right now Tim's story and message are leading the pack for me.

Anyhow, those are just a collection of thoughts I have as a state delegate at this stage in the convention process. Stay tuned...