Bramble Being Bramble

This speaks to a larger issue that I'm going to talk about later, but I held off getting this out yesterday, and then Paul Rolly hit it today.

First, these two posts from Senate District 16 Democratic Senate Candidate RaDene Hatfield:

The following is the text of an email I sent out early on Friday Oct. 17th:

Dear Friends,

I have just returned home from my local gym. On the way I saw that many of my opponent’s signs in our neighborhood had been vandalized. An expensive banner hanging on his fence was slashed and removed. Signs were taken off their stakes. Another was spray painted.

This action makes me sick. This type of vandalism should not be tolerated in our community. Please, on behalf of the Committee to Elect RaDene, spread the word: political sign vandalism is demeaning and unbecoming of our Provo Community. It violates the Christian principles of honesty, respect of property, and kindness.

If you know anyone who was involved in this activity, please ask them to do what is right: restore what they have damaged, and apologize.

Sincerely,

RaDene

OK, this first one makes a lot of sense. Nobody wants their campaign signs damaged, so you call on your supporters to stop doing it to your opponent's signs. It's called being the adult.

Now, this next one, posted Monday afternoon comes off a little more cryptically:

I know, you probably don’t believe that it is possible to run a clean political campaign, but I do. And if it can be done anywhere - it ought to be in Provo! It’s simple. All you have to do is follow some very basic ‘Sunday School Rules’:

1) Be kind and respectful to those you are running against (be slow to judge)

2) Follow the Golden Rule (do to them as you would want them to do to you)

3) Respect personal property (do not steal or damage signs, banners, or brochures)

4) If you disagree with your opponent - reach out to them first. Do not write anonymous notes, threaten legal action, or gossip.

5) If you do something wrong, apologize.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? Sadly in this day and age we’ve become obsessed with ‘being right’ instead of ‘doing right’. Still, just think how much more productive our campaign season would be if we could really focus on the issues that face our community and put our time and collective knowledge to work on finding solutions instead of wasting our time on dirty politics.

That’s what I am trying to do.

When I read this, I knew something was up. But what?

Then came this post from UTGOP.net, sent from Mrs Hatfield's Husband Harlan to Senate Majority Leader Curt "Check" Bramble:

20 October 2008

Dear Mr. Bramble: I was deeply disturbed to learn that you and several members of your campaign team approached RaDene while she was campaigning alone on State Street and 800 South in Provo on Saturday. It was completely inappropriate for you to speak harshly to her and persist when she told you the conversation was over.

RaDene is basing her campaign on the idea that respectful communication is necessary for the good of our community. But for good reason, in contested elections, like in litigation, the parties involved keep a respectful distance. It is too easy, as was the case for RaDene on Saturday, for one party to feel threatened. Your aggressive and vague accusations while she was alone, away from her car and supporters, but while you were surrounded by yours, would be unsettling to anyone in her position. Please do not approach RaDene again while she is alone during this campaign.

The truth is that both campaigns have suffered from sign vandalism, threatening anonymous messages, and other practices that are regrettable. One of our workers reported observing Saturday three persons wearing your campaign shirts removing literature from houses our workers had visited but where no one was home. We have instructed our campaign workers to not disturb any other campaign literature they come across, and trust you will do the same. However, we do believe that much of the improper behavior comes from third parties—perhaps unthinking teenagers or disgruntled residents that do not know better how to express themselves.

Meanwhile, we expect you to conduct a campaign free of intimidation and other behavior unbecoming a trustee of the public’s welfare, including the wellbeing of the election process. We will do the same.

To help hold both our campaigns to this standard, we are sending this letter to the press.

Sincerely,

Harlan M. Hatfield

Annother "Why I Am A Democrat" Story: RaDene Hatfield

I really think we, as a party, need to get these stories out more often here in Utah.

Anyway, here's one from RaDene Hatfield, Democratic Candidate for Utah Senate:

It’s been fascinating to watch your reactions when you find out that I am a Democrat. You struggle to reconcile your beliefs about Democrats with what you see and know about me.



It is very much like what I experienced when I lived outside of Utah, in that moment that people learned I am a Mormon. Have you experienced this same awkward moment? Have you ever come face to face with prejudice? For that is what the “awkward moment” is all about – people are trying to reconcile their pre-judgment of how a Mormon, a Democrat, a (name any ‘group’) thinks, feels, or believes – with you – the person standing before them.



Now before you think I believe that being a member of a political party is the same thing as being a member of a particular religion – I don’t. In fact, I think we would all be much better off if we recognized the differences between our church membership and our political party affiliation.



But I digress. I started to write this blog to try and explain why I am a Democrat. I am a Democrat because I was raised by Democrats. My father was a leader of the Democrats in Utah State Legislature during my formative years. In my family I was taught and I continue to believe that:

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The government of this country was designed to be ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’.
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Government is only as good and as strong as the people who are active participants
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We, the people, have a responsibility to care for the least among us
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We, the people, have a responsibility to provide access to education for all
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We have a responsibility to protect and preserve our inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Remembering that ‘liberty’ is another word for ‘free agency’.
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The best solutions to the problems that face our country are those that are discovered through a collaborative legislative process in an environment of mutual respect and tolerance.
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That power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That’s why we must have checks and balances in government. Just like a monopoly isn’t good in a free market, a monopoly isn’t good in a free government.



And I can go on… about stewardship over our natural resources, about our duty to preserve peace and protect human rights. To me being a Democrat is about a wider range of issues then just two – gay marriage and abortion. I freely admit that on these two issues I do not agree with the more socially liberal members of my party. But there is much more to my party affiliation then these two issues. The bottom line for me is this: you can be a good Mormon and a Democrat. I am.

Who Will Stand For An Ethical Government?

RaDene Hatfield, Democratic Candidate for Senate District 16:

On Saturday, after hearing yet another person say “I can not publically contribute time or money to your campaign. Your opponent is vindictive and if I support you he will retaliate against me” – my husband looked at me and said, “I’m sure glad we are not afraid of that man.”

We’re not. But that doesn’t mean that it is fun to be where we are right now. Besides the people who have said they are too afraid to publically support me, I’ve heard story after story of unethical and corrupt practices among our elected State Representatives and Party Leaders. And yet those people who seek me out to tell me these stories say, “You can’t use my name or reveal the industry I represent”. What then am I suppose to do with the ‘hearsay’ I am presented with? I do not have the time or the resources to serve as an investigative reporter or public prosecutor! I am a candidate. And frankly it is taking all my family has for me to be a candidate. There are days when I feel like we are the only ones willing to stand up and say, “Enough is enough. We want ethical representative government. We will pay the price in time and money to make sure we have it.”

[...]

our elected leaders can not govern alone. We the people must be actively engaged in the government of our communities. That is because the best solutions to the problems that face us are ones that grow up out of respectful and thoughtful consideration of the needs and wants of all the people.

If the people are silent, whether because of apathy or fear of retaliation we have crossed into a dangerous place – one where truly our ‘constitution is hanging by a thread’. From what I have heard these past few weeks, we are at that dangerous place.

So what are we going to do? I know what Harlan and I are doing. Will you join us? Will you stand up, without fear of retaliation, with hope and faith in the good people of our town and say “Enough is enough. I want ethical representative government. I too will contribute time or money to help elect a candidate that will represent me and my values and will do so with integrity.”

Real Campaign FInance Reform

This is an initiative that I have thought about for several years. That it comes from the opponent of the person who argues with the pizza girl, this makes it even better. From RaDene for Senate:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Tuesday, August 19, 2008

PROVO—RaDene Hatfield, candidate for State Senate, announced today a campaign policy that promotes transparency and accountability in the financing of her District 16 race, and challenged her opponent Curt Bramble to do the same

The policy, as described on Hatfield’s website stipulates that the campaign will not accept contributions from any organization not headquartered in Utah. It also specifies that her campaign will update monthly on www.RaDene.com the names and policy interests of contributors who give $50 or more to the campaign.

“The realities of our political system require candidates to raise a lot of money from many different sources,” Hatfield said. “But that doesn't mean it has to be done obscurely or from organizations with interests and agendas dissimilar from Utah citizens. I want to send a message to Utahns that I will be accountable only to them.”

The campaign sent a letter to Bramble on Monday, inviting him to follow the same policy as the Hatfield campaign. If adopted by him, this reform would require Bramble to also post his relationship to contributors on his website, and to return funds raised from non-Utah companies such as the Miller Brewing Company and Altria, the parent company of Phillip Morris Tobacco. The most recent filings with the lieutenant governor’s office from June of this year show Bramble has raised close to $140,000 since the end of his 2004 campaign. More than $116,000 or 83 percent of the funds came from corporations or political action groups. Just 1 percent or about $900 came from individual contributors. In the same reporting period, Hatfield’s campaign had raised $13,740, 100 percent from individual contributors. When new fundraising numbers are reported at the end of August, she is expected to have raised close to double that amount.

Hatfield says she is enacting the policy to demonstrate her commitment to being accountable to Utah and its voters and to invite reform of the fund-raising practices of her opponent.

”I share the sentiments of many Utah voters that there is too much questionable money in politics,“ Hatfield said. ”As a Senator, I will give no special favors to any contributors at the expense of District 16 voters, even if the contributors are from Utah. But by creating clear ethical fund-raising standards, I hope to demonstrate that I am committed to accountability and dedicated to raising the standards of ethical campaign financing in Utah.“

To view Hatfield’s list of contributors and her explanation of the policy, visit www.RaDene.com, www.radene.com/contributors.php and http://www.radene.com/campaignfinance.php.

To contribute to RaDene, click here.

-Bob

P.S. -- She has the best campaign web site I've seen this year....