Republicans Led By Loan Shark, I hope he makes winning every race "Number 1" Priority

Sltrib.com, today:

Former Salt Lake County Republican Party Chairman James Evans won a convincing victory Saturday as the new Utah Republican Party Chairman, capturing nearly 60 percent of the vote in the three-way race. 

Evans becomes the first African-American chairman of the state party. 

Evans owns Checkline, a chain of payday lending stores.

He served as Salt Lake County Chairman from 2005 to 2009, and touted that experience and record as grounds for electing him.

All I can say is "Yay!"  Not only will it bring the payday loan industry back into the limelight (watch for some pro-payday loan stories in the upcoming session, I guarantee it), but there is another reason.  In 2007, as he won reelection as Chair, Mr Evans said that his "Number 1" priority was to defeat Peter Corroon in 2008.  Corroon went on to recieve over 65% of the vote.  In 2006, Chairman Evans said his top priority was defeating County Clerk Sherrie Swenson.  Swenson won 57% of the vote.  He also personally help the Republican incumbent Sheriff (Presumably more than a chairman usually personally helps a candidate) in 2006.  Challenger Jim Winder walked away with only 63.75% of the vote.

If this is the record he ran on, I'm beginning to wonder if Democrats hacked the GOP voting system today.

Because really, in politics, it's all about winning.  And Democrats need all the help they can get.  And James Evans is a gift from the heavens.

-Bob

Bob Aagard for LD 18 Chair

Bob Aagard has had a life long interest in politics dating back to Jr High, when he polled 100 of his classmates in Jr High to see who they would vote for if they could vote in that year's Presidential Election.  The year was 1992.

Bob founded Mormons for Dean in 2003, one of the first "public interest" groups founded in support of Howard Dean's 2004 candidacy for President.  Since then, he has volunteered for many races, including those for Peter Corroon (Salt Lake County Mayor 2004, 2008; Governor 2010), and Pete Ashdown (Senate 2006).  Bob founded Mormons for Obama in 2007, and worked for the Utah Democratic Party in 2007-2008.


In 2011, Bob saw the injustice of HB 477, which was the much disliked bill that harmed Utah citizens' ability to access government records through GRAMA.  He organized the first anti-HB477 rally at the Capitol within 48 hours (before the Governor signed the bill), and was one of the founders of the SAVE GRAMA PIC that lead the initiative drive to reverse the bill.  Shortly after the initiative drive started, the Legislature reversed the law in a special session, something they rarely do.  Because of his efforts, he was named an OpenGov Champion by the Sunlight Foundation based in Washington DC.




Bob recently relocated to Farmington, and is looking forward to helping get Democrats elected in his new home.

Other Highlights:

-blogger, "The World, According to Me" since 2001
-Precinct 4007 Chair, 2004-2012
-District 36 Vice Chair, 2006
-Salt Lake County delegate- 2004-2011
-State Delegate 2004-2011
-candidate, Salt Lake County Party Secretary, 2005
-candidate, Obama national delegate, 2008

Will the Jazz stay in Utah? In Salt Lake?

Disclaimer:  I work part time on the event staff for EnergySolutions Arena.  None of the information contained in this post is confidential information obtained during my employment there.  Likewise, all of the opinions contained herein are purely my own, and do not reflect the opinion of EnergySolutions Arena, Larry H Miller Sports, the Miller Family, or their sponsors.

This afternoon, it was announced that the NBA's relocation committee unanimously approved a plan to keep the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento instead of moving them to Seattle.

Some of you are probably saying "Bob, this is a political blog.  Why are you talking sports?"  Well, I can write what I want, and there is a political aspect to this post, I promise.

For those of you who need to be caught up on the issues at hand, let me summarize a few things.  For several years, the family that owns the Sacramento Kings has been trying to get a new arena built in Sacramento.  As they have had trouble funding the arena, they have threatened to move the team to Las Vegas (where they own the Palms casino) or to Anaheim.  Recently, they have put the team up for sale.  A few months ago, a group from Seattle (which lost it's NBA team to Oklahoma City because the city wouldn't fund an Arena) put in a bid to buy the Kings with plans to move them to Seattle.  The Seattle group already has approval for a new NBA/NHL arena.  The City of Sacramento put together a group of investors to buy the team and keep them in that city.  That plan seems to have been successful.  I believe part of that plan includes building a new arena.

All of this has lead some people on twitter to say "could the Utah Jazz move from Utah?  If they stay in Utah, would they stay in Downtown Salt Lake?"  I say no way to the first question, and probably to the second.

First, on whether the team would ever move from Utah.  When he was alive, Larry H Miller maintained that his purchase of the Jazz was a gift to Salt Lake City and the state of Utah.  His family recognize that this gift is the lasting legacy of their husband and father, and is a gift that came a great personal financial risk to them (Miller mortgaged everything he owned twice in the mid-80s to purchase the team, and then again in the late 80s to build EnergySolutions Arena).  Selling the team would be selling Larry's legacy.  Furthermore, they recognize that selling the team would have a negative influence on the rest of their businesses.

Also, even if the family sells the team, it doesn't mean they would sell to an out of state interest.  The Huntsman, Eccles, and Garff families are big Jazz fans and could have an interest in buying the team.

Now, for the question of staying downtown.  The 22-year-old EnergySolutions Arena is the 7th-oldest arena in the NBA.  One of the arenas that is older, Madison Square Garden, has undergone a multi-year renovation where they essentially gutted the entire arena a built a new one inside.  Two more of the older arenas, in Oakland and Sacramento, will be replaced in the next three years.

When it was announced that EnergySolutions had bought naming rights to the Arena, Larry H Miller said that the arena had about 10 years of life left.  That was in 2006.  When there were upgrades to the enterances and some food areas a few years ago, Larry's son Greg, who is now CEO, said that the arena had about 10 years of life.  So, in reality, the team will probably be replacing the building sometime within the decade.

So, will they stay downtown?  Well, they almost didn't.  Larry H Miller purchased a large chunk of land near 11400 SOuth just off I-15 to build his arena.  However, he was having trouble getting the infrastructure improvements needed from Sandy City. The LDS Church stepped in and sold him the lot the arena stands on now for next to nothing.  The Church recognizes that keeping the Jazz downtown would help the viability of downtown.  They also recognize that nearly every broadcast of the game to markets outside of Salt Lake includes at least one shot of the Salt Lake Temple.  For this reason, the Temple is one of the most recognizable buildings in Utah, and thus a destination for tourists.  While you'll get some of that if the team moves to the suburbs, it wouldn't happen otherwise.  The Church owns to parking lot blocks in downtown that would be perfect locations for a new arena:  Block 85, home of the Medals Plaza for the 2002 Olympics and kitty-corner from the current arena.  The other option is the block on the west side of the Courthouse TRAX station.  The Church bought that land a few years ago and have no plans for development.  I would imagine that a simple land exchange would be benifitio=al to both the CHurch and the Millers.

Likewise, I think that the Millers would have an easier time getting some taxpayer funding for a new arena.  The millers have very quietly built relationships with those in GOP leadership in the legislature.  Likewise, being the legislator who killed the Jazz wouldn't be the best way to get reelected.

Some are pointing out the hoops that Real Salt Lake had to jump through to build a stadium. However, this situation is different.  RSL said that they would turn a profit, and gave statistics to show that they would be able to.  However, some of their figures were questionable, and some of those questionable figures have fallen far short.  The Jazz do not currently turn a profit, and the family is comfortable losing some money, as having the team helps the other businesses.  Also, some of the troubles RSL had in getting a stadium built in Downtown Salt Lake were caused by three factors: 1) The preferred locations for the downtown stadium were not for sale.  Salt Lake City's plan included using eminent domain to take the land, which would have been expensive.  2) The stadium issue was at the height of Rocky Anderson's antagonism of the Legislature.  This is the same Legislature that sided with Big Tobacco when it came to smoking in bars after the tobacco lobbyists pointed out that Rocky was in favor of the ban.  3) Legislative leadership represented Sandy and rigged the game to favor their city.  Pork, anyone?

RSL is not the Jazz.  I think that the Millers could get most of what they want from the City, the County, and the State.

Keep in mind that I am not advocating for or against the use of taxpayer funds for a new arena.  That is a different topic for a different day.

-Bob

8:16 update

Putting in the amount of detail I wanted isn't working -- it's taking too long, but I'll update things as I can.

Obama 143 confirmed 94 likely 44 possible 281 total
Romney 159 confirmed 21 likely 55 possible 235 total

Popular Vote: Romney 50-48

Liveblogging Election Night 2012 6:45 Update

Obama: 64 confirmed 173 likely 44 possible 281 total
Romney 82 confirmed 98 likely 55 possible 235 total

Popular Vote, Per CNN: Romney 51, Obama 47

Since the last post, CNN has called the following states:
Connecticut - Obama
District of Columbia - Obama
Delaware - Obama
Georgia - Romney
Illinois - Obama
Massachusetts - Obama
Maine - Obama
Maryland - Obama
Oklahoma - Romney
Rhode Island - Obama
Tennessee - Romney
Arkansas - Romney
Alabama - Romney

SENATE RACES
Angus King (I) Wins, as was expected.  He is expected to caucus with the Democrats.

HOUSE RACES
No Races on the watch list called since last post

GOVERNORS RACES
Jack Markell (D) Won reelection, as was expected.

Liveblogging Election Night 2012: 5:51 PM update

Obama: 3 confirmed 234 likely 44 possible 281 total
Romney 33 confirmed 147 likely 55 possible 235 total

Since the last post, CNN has called the following states:
South Carolina - Romney
West Virginia - Romney

SENATE RACES
No Races Called since last post

HOUSE RACES
No Races called since last post

GOVERNORS RACES
No Races called since last post

LiveBlogging Election Night 2012 5:29 Update

Obama: 3 confirmed 234 likely 44 possible 281 total
Romney 19 confirmed 161 likely 55 possible 235 total

Since the last post, CNN has called the following states:
Kentucky - Romney
Indiana-Romney
Vermont-Obama

SENATE RACES
No races have been called since the last post

HOUSE RACES
No races have been called since the last post.

GOVERNORS RACES
In Vermont, Governor Peter Shumlin (D) has won reelection, as he was expected to.

4:50 PM Electoral base map

Tonight, I'm going to be using the mapping program from RealClearPolitics to visually show the electoral numbers.  The base map is as follows:

This map shows Obama potentially up 281-235, with 22 votes in the toss-up category.

Throughout the night, as state are called, I'll be coloring states darker on the map.  Also, I'll give numbers this way:

Obama: 0 Confirmed, 237 likely, 44 probable, 281 total

Romney: 0 Confirmed, 180 likely, 55 possible, 235 total

Confirmed is states that they have won, likely is the darker-blue numbers, possible is the light blue.

-Bob

My 2012 Election Projection Malarkey

I may not be quite as prolific at blogging as I once was, but I though that I'd share my Election Night predictions.  I post them with this caveat:  In the early days of this blog, I made my predictions about election day, and Jeff Bell told me that my predictions were "a bunch of [male bovine excrement]."  Or, as Vice President Biden called it during the debate, Malarkey.

So, here's my pile of malarkey for today. Keep in mind that I would love to be wrong on a few of these:

Federal:
Obama/Biden 281 electoral votes.  I admit, this is probably a little low, but I don't want to feel overconfident.  Before today, i thought that Romney might win the popular vote, but now I have a gut feeling that Obama will pull out a narrow victory here, too.  Under 1.5%.

The Democrats will hang on to the Senate 52-48.  The House will remain in GOP hands.

Utah

Romney will get 72% of the vote here in Utah and win every county.  Herbert and Hatch will win reelection with 62%.

Mia Love will be Representative Love by 2 points.

Utah Democrats will be further in the minority in the Legislature, losing 1 Senate seat and 1 House seat.

Ben McAdams will be Mayor McAdams by 2 points as well.

Millcreek will become a city.

Am I wrong?  Probably, but the only way to see is to watch the results tonight.  I've got 160 national races and a dozen or so local races to follow, and I'm live-blogging the results from the time the first polls close at 5 PM until the Utah Democratic Party kicks me out of the Sheraton Hotel.  Follow on the blog, or I'll be posting links on Twitter and Facebook (with some additional coverage on these platforms).

What races are you interested in?

Republican Desperation in Salt Lake County

Look what I found driving in Holladay today:

Not only is this sign illegally placed, but it's also highly illegal as it has no indication of who paid for the signs.

Not only that, but it also smacks of desperation.  Doesn't exactly sound like a campaign that's up 10 points, does it?  (More on that in another post.)

In fact, it really is sad that the only thing Mark Crockett can campaign on is how "liberal" Ben McAdams is.  I've gotten two mailers from Crockett the past few days telling me this.

Not only is the sign illegal and the campaign tactic desperate, but it's a flat out lie.  Find me one person who honestly thinks Ben McAdams is as liberal as Rocky Anderson.  In fact, I'd be willing to be that both men would scoff at the notion.

Anyway, however liberal Ben McAdams may be, he is willing to bring all sides together to find a common ground.  The world of politics needs more Ben McAdamses.  Salt Lake County needs Ben McAdams.

Touchdown Romney, Game (not) Over

Mitt Romney won last night's debate. However, the game is not over.

 You see, Mitt needed a win. And knowing that he only needed a tie, Obama played not to lose, and lost. It was the political equivalent of a football team playing prevent defense. You send three linemen at the quarterback and drop the other 8 into coverage. Most of the time, playing prevent defense allows the quarterback time to throw, and receivers more time to shake the defenders, allowing the offense to march down the field. It's cost the University of Utah several games against BYU the past several years (and almost cost them this year's game).

 It's bad to play prevent defense when you are up by less than a touchdown, but even worse when you are down 17 in the 4th. A stop makes it very difficult to win. Allowing a touchdown gives your opponent momentum and confidence. But, you're still up 10 points. The game isn't over. Do you run down the clock, hoping your prevent defense will last until election day? Or do you play your norm, moving the ball effectively and efficiently down the field, hoping to play just as much offense to run the clock to 0:00?  Or, do you run wide-open aggressiveness, hoping you can stick the final nail in the coffin, but also hoping you don't throw an interception, allowing your opponent to have good field position.

I think a good place to start is by pointing out that It's easy to score a touchdown when you have 12 men on the field win a debate when you tell a lie every minute and 24 seconds, not counting lies you repeat.

We'll see what kind of coaches Team Obama has.  I just hope it's not Kyle Wittingham.

-Bob

Mr Rogers to Mitt Romney: Don't cut PBS!

"Mom, do you know why I like Mr Rogers? Because he likes me just the way I am." -Bobby Aagard, circa 1985

I grew up on a healthy dose of PBS programming. Mr Rogers was a friend, and taught me that being different is OK, and that we should love others not for the clothes they wear, nor their toys, but for being themselves. I also learned valuable lessons in topics such as anger management.

But Mr Rogers was not my only early influence. I gained a love of books from Reading Rainbow, and was reading at nearly a 1st grade level entering Kindergarten thanks in part to Sesame Street.

Because of a series of life circumstances, I get to spend some time with my 5-year old nephew, who is about the same age as I was when I said the quote that leads this post. We sit down to watch TV together, and I look at the programs he watches and the lessons we learn from them. Dinosaur Train takes his love of dinosaurs and trains and turns it into a love of science. On a recent trip to the Utah Museum of Natural History, he referenced Dinosaur train, mostly in the parts of the museum that DON'T have dinosaurs. On Sid the Science Kid, he sees that he, like the characters, can channel their natural curiosity to learn new things. On The Cat in The Hat Knows a Lot About That, he learns lessons in observation. And, n our new favorite show, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, we learn some of those same life lessons that I learned from Mr Rogers.

I can't think of anything we learn from shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Phineas and Pherb other than what the latest toys and junk food are out there (seen during commercial breaks)).

Unfortunately, the only way to produce commercial programming is from the private sector getting some help from the Government via PBS. So, when Mitt Romney said in tonight's debate that he wanted to cut funding for PBS (which amounts to a very small portion of the federal budget), I took it personally.

But, this is not the first time funding for PBS has been threatened. In 1969, Congress was wanting to cut funding for PBS, and Mr Rogers went to Washington to testify. Instead of reading his prepared remarks, which he said the Congressmen had promised to read, he spoke briefly about his show, and the good it was doing in the world.

In the next Appropriation, PBS funding went from $9 Million to $22 Million.

So, Mr Romney, please find something else to cut, because this funding is doing a lot of good in the world.

-Bob

Song: Mitt Romney Pays Less Taxes Than Me