News Highlights

Resentment between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters lingers at the Democratic National Convention, and can be felt even among some members of Utah's delegation (Salt Lake Tribune). See other convention coverage in news links in right column.

Utah legislative committee focuses on immigration, with some lawmakers criticizing the conservative Sutherland Institute for its moderate position on immigration (Deseret News, KCPW, and Tribune). See related Logan Herald Journal story.

Quote of the Day
“How high does oil have to go before people of this nation wake up and shake the obstructionists off their backs?”

-- Daily Herald editorial supporting oil shale development and praising Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Rob Bishop for “pleading the case.”

Huckabee Denies Anti-Mormon Charge
Rushlimbaugh.com: In a recent on-air exchange with Rush Limbaugh, Mike Huckabee denied that he has a problem with Mitt Romney's Mormonism, or that he pandered to anti-Mormon evangelicals during the primaries:
 
LIMBAUGH: Thank you. So are you, sir. Now let's get right to the chase here. I said something a couple weeks ago, maybe ten days ago, about you and Governor Romney that you strenuously objected to. What was it that I said that was incorrect?

HUCKABEE: Well, that I had made an issue out of his religion and had sort of poisoned him with evangelicals and that's simply not true. You know, one of the things that I've been very adamant about is that I don't think his religion has one thing to do with whether people should support him. Some of my favorite public servants in America happen to be the same religion he is, the Morman religion. That would be people like Mike Leavitt, Orrin Hatch, John Huntsman, the current governor of Utah. Great people. It has nothing to do with it.

LIMBAUGH: Yeah, but they're not running for president nor running against you for the nomination. I guess I track this back to at one point you talking about what Romney believes, that Christ and Lucifer were brothers.

HUCKABEE: It was a question that I actually asked of the New York Times Magazine writer, because he knew a lot more about Mormonism than I did. It appeared as 11 words in about a 10,000-word story, and that got all the play. I personally apologized to Mitt because it did come across wrong and it's simply not the way I feel and it isn't, and I don't think Mitt Romney's religion has a thing to do with it. I think, you know, a record has to do with it, but not his religion.

Christensen: Pick Romney

In his Citizens for Principled Government newsletter, LaVar Christensen says McCain should pick Romney as VP to shore up his credentials to fix the economy.

Happy Talk About Economy

Utah Economist Jeff Thredgold’s Tea Leaf economic update this week focuses on good news: “The ‘dismal science’ of economics typically focuses on ‘bad’ news. We clearly face significant challenges…no argument here. However, there are also many favorable developments taking place within the U.S. economy. This is our semi-annual update of ‘Happy Talk.’  This Tea Leaf focuses ONLY on the ‘good’ news…” 

-- The middle and lower-middle class had stronger income gains in 2007 than did the top one-fifth of households.

-- For every dollar of U.S. economic output generated today, we burn less than half as much oil as 30 years ago. Read more.

Barack-A-Thon Parties

-- The University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics will be hosting a convention party tonight at 7 p.m. at Orson Spencer Hall, Room 253, to watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Denver.
 

-- Young Democrats of Utah (YDU) and the Salt Lake County Democratic Party are hosting a Barack-A-Thon Convention Watch Party tonight at Brewvies beginning at 5pm. Obama's acceptance speech will air at 8pm. Admission is free for those who arrive before 6 p.m. and participate in a phone bank focused on turning out the youth vote in November. Admission after 6 is a suggested donation of $5. Must be at least 21 to attend. For more info visit: www.youngdemsofutah.org or www.slcountydems.com

CPPA Newsletter
The University of Utah's Center for Public Policy & Administration has posted its latest Policy Perspectives newsletter. In this month's edition, SL Co. Mayor Peter Corroon and ULCT lobbyist Lincoln Shurtz offer their perspectives on the issue of townships, annexations, and incorporations.

Today in Political History

Aug. 28, 1955:  Emmett Till, a black teen-ager from Chicago, is abducted from his uncle's home in Money, Miss., by two white men after he was accused of whistling at a white woman. He is found murdered three days later.

Aug. 28, 1963: 200,000 people participate in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. (Source:  NY Times) 

Wise Words

“Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil; our great hope lies in developing what is good.”

 -- Calvin Coolidge (Patriot Post)

Utah Political History

The Election of 1960

Whereas the 1956 election had been dominated by the controversial three-way contest for governor, the 1960 election saw a patchwork of issues, contests, and charges that enlivened the campaign on several fronts. Although Richard Nixon carried Utah in his unsuccessful bid to move from vice-president to president, his margin of victory was far below that given Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. With 205,361 votes to 169,248 votes for John F. Kennedy, Nixon's 54.7 percent was ten percent lower than that given to Eisenhower in 1956. Both presidential candidates spoke in Salt Lake City, and John Kennedy's speech in the Mormon Tabernacle, with references to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Mormon scriptures, and even praise for Republicans Reed Smoot and Ezra Taft Benson, seem much more effective than the cordial but less specific remarks by Richard Nixon.  (Source:  Utah.edu) 

National Politics

Best Stories From . . .

-- New York Times: Obama wins nomination; Biden and Bill Clinton rally party
-- Washington Post: Clinton links his presidency to Obama
-- The Hill: All eyes on big speech at Invesco Field
-- The Telegraph: Anne Applebaum: Did Hillary Clinton really help Barack's cause?
-- The Nation: Eric Alterman: Mainstream Media tensions erupt
-- US News & World Report: Sources: Romney is out
-- Politico: Rove tried to kill Lieberman VP pick
-- Los Angeles Times: Most oppose bid to ban gay marriage in California, poll finds

Blog Watch

-- Bloggers at The Utah Amicus post regular updates throughout the day from the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

-- Bruce Hough, Utah’s Republican National Committeeman, begins blogging about the Republican convention that begins Monday in Minneapolis.

-- At Capital Commerce, U.S. News & World Report reporter James Pethokoukis reports: "My sources tell me that Mitt Romney will not be John McCain's running mate. Joe Lieberman, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Meg Whitman still in the mix. Developing..." (For more on Romney, see Washington Wire).

-- At The Senate Site, Sen. Sheldon Killpack weighs in on the Bob Bernick/referendum law controversy.

Lighter Side

Best of Late Night Humor

David Letterman: From the “Top Ten Ways to Make the Democratic Convention More Fun”: Every night, one lucky lady gets to go home with John Edwards; In honor of party mascot, serve assortment of delicious donkey and mule treats; Special appearance by the exhumed remains of Lyndon Johnson; Give John Kerry’s crazy wife five minutes to say whatever she wants; Kick things off with a song from Dennis Kucinich; Try to squeeze Al Gore into the same suit he wore at the 2000 convention.

Jay Leno: As you all know by now, Barack Obama sent out a cell phone text message at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning to tell everyone he picked Joe Biden as his vice president. How do you think this makes Hillary Clinton feel, huh? Finally, she gets a telephone call at 3 a.m.—it’s to tell her they picked Joe Biden. ... Well, you know at the Democratic Convention this week in Denver, both Bill and Hillary will be speaking. Not to each other, of course. ... John McCain is an older, white-haired man who has been in the Senate for over 20 years, voted for the Iraq War, and said Barack Obama did not have the experience to be president. I’m sorry, that’s our intro for next week when Joe Biden is on, I got confused.  (Patriot Post)

Elected Officials Birthday List

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