Channel 4's Lazy reporting

Why pay to conduct your own poll when you can just use someone's insider poll?

From KTVX:

SALT LAKE (ABC 4 News) - Utah Senator Bob Bennett may no longer be the front-runner for his own party's nomination.

According to reliable Republican sources, Bennett now trails GOP challenger Mike Lee by a significant amount among GOP delegates.

According to our sources, Mike Lee's campaign has conducted two large surveys in the last month.

Each polled between a quarter and a third of the delegates to next month's Republican state convention.

Reportedly, Mike Lee is first with 37 percent of the delegate vote.

Bennett is said to be second at 22 percent.

Tim Bridgewater, according to information given to ABC 4, is third at 20.5%

And Cherilyn Eagar, we're told, is in 4th place at 13% of those polled.

Here's the problem I have with this:

How do we know this was an unbiased poll?

After all, if you're going to be leaking a poll (especially with that much detail), to Chris Vancour, why does it have to be accurate?

For all we know, The question was "If the convention was today, which of the following candidates would you vote for? Mike "Superhero" Lee, Bob "Old Fart Who Likes Big Banks" Bennett, Tim "Nobody" Bridgewater, or Crazy Cherilyn Eagar?"

-Bob

Bob to Smack Forehead

See what I did there? I titled a blog post about US Senate Candidate Cherilyn Eagar trying to imply she was going to be closer to Sarah Palin than the rest of us by using a play on her last name. Cute, huh?

Apparently, the Eagar campaign thought so. What, with their press release headlined "Eagar to attend Sarah Palin book signing." Or creating a rally group in the parking lot called "Eagar to Support Sarah Palin."

So, you;d think the campaign was wanting to let people know their candidate would be sharing a stage with the formerGovernor of Alaska or maybe do a photo shoot, right?

Wrong.

From the Deseret News:

Eagar, who is one of one of many challengers to Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, acknowledges she has received no endorsement from Palin. In fact, Eagar does not even have an appointment to meet with Palin and simply will be standing in line with others hoping to get a signed copy of Palin's book when Palin visits a Costco in Salt Lake City on Dec. 9 to sign books from noon to 3 p.m.

-Bob

Shurtleff Out --What does it mean for the other competitors?

With Attorney General Mark Shurleff suspending his campaign for US Senate to deal with family matters surrounding his daughter's depression, what does it mean for the other people in the race?

Sen Bob Bennett (R)

In the eyes of many, this boiled down to a two-person race -- Shurtleff vs Bennett. With the AG out of the picture, Bennett's run get much easier. There's still a chance, but his road to reelection definitely got easier today.

Sam Granato (D)

Easily the person most hurt by this is Sam. Let's face it, the best-case scenario for Dems was a Shurtleff-Granato race to November. The worst-case scenario is Bennett-Granato.

Cherilyn Eagar (R)

This is definitely a win-lose for the Eagar camp. On one hand, it opens the door for more media coverage. On the other hand, she loses much of the "anything you can do I can do better" competition she was playing with Shurtleff. She'll gain some of the delegates that were looking to Shurtleff for change, but not enough to make a difference.

Tim Bridgewater (R)

The second-worst-kept secret in the 2010 cycle has been that Tim Bridgewater was running for Senate. And, because of that, the announcement of his campaign came with little fanfare. However, with Shurtleff gone, it allows him to step up to the plate. His experience in the Republican Convention/Primary system from his two runs for the US House gives him the leg up in recruiting delegates. He is the new favorite to force a primary with Bennett. his ability to win a primary is another question.

-Bob

If a Tree Falls In the Woods.....

Six Months ago, I had a little rant about the Utah Democratic Party. It was a response to an anonymous comment to another post.

Well, here's another couple of things on use of new media. The first is a video on new media included in a must-read post from JM Bell.



The second is from Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Cherilyn Eagar. While she is near the bottom of my list of candidates to support, she has a point. Ignore the messenger, and pretend that this was coming from 455 S 300 E:

We're running a fast-paced campaign to contact and to get out to meet all the delegates around the state. We're raising money during a time when funding nationally is way down and the dog days of summer are still upon us, but we're doing it.

We are running an assertive media campaign, consistently sending out news releases on important issues such as the Wyden-Bennett health care bill and recently a statement to oppose our incumbent Senator's vote for cloture to appoint animal rights and gun control activist Cass Sunstein. Did you read about it in any of our major papers? Have you heard me on any major local talk radio recently?

Probably not. One major radio station announcer explained on air that the station had made a decision that it would only cover the top two contenders in this race. I emailed the producer and said, "Since I beat our incumbent Senator in a straw poll recently, does that put me in the top two?" :-) No response.

And you most likely will not get any response, at least not for a while. [...]

But there is an answer to a calculated absence of what we call "earned" media. It's called "new media." You will get the story here and online on Twitter and on blogs that you will not get in the mainstream media. We have no option but to surround them, as Glenn Beck says. So tell your friends to get connected to Facebook today. Learn how to use Twitter and to blog. Connect with the right people online that will get the message far and wide. This is a grassroots campaign and we will gather and unite the grassroots!

Yes, much of social media is preaching to the choir. However, the choir is not being preached to now. And, some members of the choir can be influenced by other preachers. Furthermore, many Utahns need the choir (their friends and neighbors) to further emphasize what is coming from the preacher (the State Party and elected officials). It's people's friends and neighbors who are (most likely)) going to convert them, not slick advertising. It works in religion the same as it works for politics.

Yet, what we have in this state is a weekly liberal radio show (Jeff Bell's Left of the Dial, Saturdays 4-5 PM, KSL 1160AM/102.7FM, on hiatus during football season) and a weekly Alternative newspaper (City Weekly) which can't get an interview with Utah's lone Democratic "Representative" or State Party Chair. Even a Republican running against RepINO Matheson will sit down with the CW.

If a Democrat speaks in Utah, will anyone hear it?

-Bob

Cherilyn Eager and Conservative Heretics

Cherilyn Eager made her candidacy for US Senate official today, with a rally (?) at Marie Calenders.

Eagar began her campaign by taking shots at the other GOP candidates in the race.

"I'm told this is a four-way race. It's not," she said. "It's a two-way race: a race between three counterfeit conservatives and one authentic conservative. I'm the real deal."

She added, "I have one word to say about Bob Bennett: bailout," complaining he voted for the initial bailout for troubled financial firms (although he opposed later versions). She also said his actions have helped put America on a "bullet train to tyranny."

"I have two words to say about Mark Shurtleff and Tim Bridgewater: John McCain. At a time when the field had several great conservative choices, Shurtleff and Bridgewater chose the guy in the middle of the road," Eagar said. "And we all know what happens to the armadillo in the middle of the road."

She said she supported Mitt Romney for president.

Which one was Mitt Romney -- the one who did a complete 540 on abortion (semi-pro life, then pro choice, then very pro life)), or was he the guy who as governor of that conservative hotbed of Massachusetts when they started allowing Gay Marriage?

Oh, he was the one who showed great personal fiscal responsibility by owning homes in 4 states and spending $25 Million of his own money to come in third. That guy.

Maybe that's what Gayle Ruzicka meant when she said of Eager: "I know she won't change. What she says is what she'll do — and that's important."

As Ethan at KSL pointed out:

The Republican Party is looking for heretics when they SHOULD be looking for converts.

From The SideTrack

UT-Sen: And then there were six

DesNews:

Vowing to wage a low-cost grass-roots campaign aiming to return the country to constitutional principles, Republican James Russell Williams III formally announced his candidacy Wednesday for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Bob Bennett, R-Utah.

"We have to change the way our politicians are running the government. The best hope for our country, and for our families, is to return to our core conservative principles of fiscal discipline, accountability, strong national security, limited government and immigration reform," he said.

He enters a crowded race. Already in it are Republicans Bennett, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, and former congressional candidate Tim Bridgewater, and conservative Cherilyn Eagar is expected to formally announce her candidacy on Thursday. Also in the race is Democratic food business owner Sam Granato.

Williams, 36, of South Jordan, owns a small business called Creative Customs, which provides electronics work for car dealerships. He said he has never run for political office.

From The SideTrack

Annother Member of the Loony Wing Joins the Senate Race

Ethan Millard writes on KSL.com that Cherilyn Bacon Eagar "is forming an exploratory committee in preparation to join the race to replace Senator Bennett."

She Joins Mark Shurtleff and Tim Bridgewater on the Republican Side. Joe Granato is the only Democrat to have announced at this point.

Who is Cherilyn Bacon Eagar?

Cherilyn Bacon Eagar is an owner of and marketing director for WebsTarget® by Computer Camp, an Internet marketing company that services the real estate industry nationally. She is President and Policy Analyst for World Class Education Research, founded to publish and advocate for ideals that strengthen the traditional family. She was co-author of the first state Family and Educational Rights to Privacy Act, to protect students from invasive psychological and non-academic testing. She is also author of an education policy manual entitled Edugate America: The Deconstruction of a Culture and is completing a book on pornography to help the family members of sexual addicts.

She has presented nationally on education reforms and related topics for over 20 years, has been a media spokesperson for many causes from Stop ERA of the late 70’s to hosting an opinion/comment talk radio show. She is featured in Sean Hannity’s book Let Freedom Ring in recognition of her successful post-9/11 national campaign against the Red Cross’ “neutrality” policy which prohibited the singing of traditional American patriotic songs such as “God Bless the USA” and “America the Beautiful” and “Declaration” (with text from the Declaration of Independence), and songs which mention the words “God” and “prayer.”

She developed a summer program in New York City for aspiring performing artists working with Broadway directors and instructors and rated among the top 2 programs along with NYU’s “Cap 21” program. She received highest ratings while on the faculty at the Orange County School of the Arts (a charter school) and at Brigham Young University. She has been accepted into the Masters Degree program in Education and in Marriage and Family Therapy from Liberty University in Virginia.

Cherilyn has had a wealth of experience in the private, non-profit charitable sector, having raised approximately $1 million for various causes from the Boy Scouts to the Special Olympics, as well as fighting pornography over the past decade. She has also had a lifetime of experience in the political arena in several regions of the U.S., multiple times as Republican county and state delegate, a candidate for the school board in Texas, as campaign manager for the 1994 Congressional race in Utah’s 3rd District, and in supporting conservative candidates and causes that strengthen families.

A lifelong, dedicated Republican, she has also had brief, but vast, top-level, “third party” experience when she helped Patrick Buchanan in his bid for the presidency. During that time, she became the National Press Secretary for the Reform Party. As a result, she is a strong advocate for working within the existing two party-system to affect change. She believes the Republican Party, though its platform reflects correct principles of government and the free market, has drifted too far toward Statism/Big Government in practice.

She is now dedicated to restoring the Republican Party to the principles of its platform, to fiscal responsibility, and to the principles of the free market and states’ sovereignty for which President Ronald Reagan stood, especially in the area of education. She opposes the recent national take-over of America’s economy and recognizes that Congress has adopted a mixed economy of predominantly socialist/fascist principles. This must change if America is to survive and remain that “Shining City on a Hill” that Reagan envisioned as the bastion of freedom for the rest of the world.

She is married to Randy Eagar, and together they have seven children and 9.5 grandchildren.

I'm wondering if the Loony wing of the party are diluting their voting bloc too much with too many candidates.

-Bob

From The SideTrack