Money for nothing
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tah doesn't matter much when it comes to national politics, and fate persistently reminds us of that fact.
For nearly a decade, Utah's leaders -- mostly Republicans, but some Democrats, too -- have been attempting to organize a so-called Western states presidential primary, with the states of the Intermountain region holding election-year primaries on the same day. The theory has always been that candidates would finally be forced to visit our small-population states and confront issues like grazing, water, wilderness, forest management, power and more that matter most to voters in the West.
So, Utah finally moved its date up to Feb. 5, hoping to snag some of that elusive attention. Because so many other, larger states hold their primaries earlier than Utah always did, the nominees were essentially chosen by the time it came for Utahns to vote.
Trouble is, California did the same thing. And since California is the most populous state in the nation, candidates will now likely be tripping over themselves to kiss-up to West Coasters for their votes. And Utah, well, we will be wishing we could get some more respect for the $3.5 million it will spend to stage the Feb. 5 primary election.
It really is all about the numbers. California represents about 15 percent of the total delegates a candidate needs to win his or her party's nomination. Utah barely registers, with less than 2 percent for the Republican nomination and less than 1 percent for the Democratic.
A candidate would have to be either nuts, or crazy-desperate, to spend much time or money in Utah or most of its other neighbors in the Intermountain West.
Winning California's the strategy for winning the nomination.
Still, there are Utahns who believe it's all worth it. They say Utah can either risk getting lost in the crowd on Feb. 5, or it can give up and hold a primary election after other states have done the deciding. Looked at that way, it makes a little sense -- but only a little.
From our point of view, the notion of taxpayers forking over $3.5 million is an expensive price to pay for "maybe" getting noticed on Feb. 5, 2008. And they say gambling's illegal in Utah.
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