Under the guise of last-minute campaigning, two interesting tidbits showing up this week:
- Donald Trump Jr. was on automated, recorded telephone calls coming into registered Republicans’ home phones.
Jr. has some connections to the Utah GOP establishment. He is friends with Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper.
At Hughes’ invitation, young Trump has several times addressed GOP legislators while in Utah campaigning/ fundraising for his father’s presidential effort.
Jr. has not been back in the state since the “Access Hollywood” tapes of his father saying sexist things about women.
Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, was in Salt Lake Wednesday campaigning.
And the following may have been aimed at him:
- Someone illegally had lawn-sized signs along South Temple and up and down State Street and around the State Capitol on Wednesday.
The blue signs with white lettering said: “Herbert is Trump.”
Not exactly sure what that means, since GOP Gov. Gary Herbert has rescinded his endorsement of Trump after the sexist tape became public, and says he won’t vote for Trump, his party’s nominee.
Herbert is a friend of Pence, as they serve together on several governor commissions.
Herbert says he won’t vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton, either, and has so far declined to say whom he will vote for in the president’s contest.
All campaign signs, by state law, must have somewhere on the sign who paid for them and/or distributed them in small lettering.
These signs don’t – although they are in blue, the traditional color of the National Democratic Party and/or local Democratic parties.
So who put them up is unknown.
The signs were on parking strips, and since illegally identified the signs can be removed by pretty much anyone.
Herbert’s re-election race is not close, he leads Democrat Mike Weinholtz by double-digits in the polls.
However, the presidential race is close: Trump has 30 percent support, independent Republican Evan McMullin is at 29 percent support; and Clinton is at 25 percent support; with 4 percent don’t knows and the other candidates picking up a few percentage points, as well.
So the Jr. call-ins and Pence’s visit is aimed at last-minute shoring up Trump’s support in Utah.
