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Dear delegates,

Thanks for reaching out to ask for my opinion and for all your work to represent us at the state convention.

You might remember me from our neighborhood caucus meeting.  I also ran to be a state delegate with the intention of replacing Mr.Bennett.  I realize that in our precinct, most of you expressed support for Mr.Bennett, and that professor Frederickson, in particular, is a personal friend for his (though she did emphasize, to her credit, that just because she is a friend does not mean that she agrees with him).  I hope you realize that I do not think he is a bad person.  He has done what he thinks is right, and that is admirable.  I do think, however, that what Mr. Bennett thinks is right and what I think is right are no longer aligned.

Yes, it is true that working within the current system Mr. Bennett would be able to leverage his seniority to direct federal monies to Utah, and to Orem.  At our caucus meeting, Mayor Billings repeatedly emphasized that Mr. Bennett had been instrumental in getting the funding for several programs that have greatly benefited our city.  And if our goal were to continue to work within the current scheme of things then Mr. Bennett would clearly be the right man for the job.  But our goal isn’t to get the most out of the current scheme.  We aren’t just looking to get the most advantage out of the status quo.  The system is broken. Federal monies come with federal strings attached which are used to wield undue influence well beyond the constitutional roles of the national government. We are tired of selling our independence in exchange for federal money earmarked for our state and city.  We don’t want to get the most out of the current scheme, we want to overhaul the scheme to return it to the principles of liberty, limited government, and individual natural rights.

Mr. Bennett is part of the era of Big Government Republicanism with which we have all become so disillusioned.  No matter how good his intentions, he has been in Washington too long and as a consequence his views of how government should work have become mired in the status quo. The kind of changes we need to make in Washington require fresh, energetic, even revolutionary thinking to re-found our nation on the principles of good government identified by the original founders.  Under our constitutional republic, revolutions are fought with ballots instead of bullets. We want a revolution at the ballot box. We want a new senator that represents the principles of our revolution.  That is why Mr. Bennett will not be reelected.

I encourage you to reject the current scheme of things in Washington and embrace the need for new representation by voting for Mike Lee or Cherilyn Eager for Senator at the Utah State Republican Convention on May 8th.

Thank you for considering my point of view,

J. Max Wilson
http://www.sixteensmallstones.org

I know what a bad feeling it is to go into the voting booth and to look at empty names, with no idea who they are or what they want to accomplish other than what I can assume from their party affiliation. So, as part of my volunteer efforts for Citizens’ Resource we now have short, online video presentations by nearly all of the candidates that will appear in contested races on the Utah County ballot available on Google video.

Hopefully all of you will take advantage of email, blogs, and the word-of-mouth power of “viral marketing” to help as many people view these videos as possible before voting on November 7th.

1. Watch the videos in the races you will be voting on.

2. Email a copy of this post to as many Utah County voters as you can.

3. If you have a blog, tell your readers about the videos and encourage them to watch them and to tell others as well. Also, because the videos are on the Google video service, you can go to the video web page and embed any of the videos right into your own blog or website. Feel free to contact me if you need help doing this.

I’ve posted all of the videos here on my personal blog in addition to the Citizens’ Resource website.

Video Introduction to the 2006 Candidate Preview by Jessica Connors

Video is available for one or more candidates in the following:

2006 Utah Candidates for U.S. Senate

2006 Utah Candidates for U.S. Congress District 2

2006 Utah Candidates for U.S. Congress District 3

2006 Utah Candidates for Utah County Commissioner

2006 Utah Candidates for State Senate District 11

2006 Utah Candidates for State Senate District 15

2006 Utah Candidates for State Legislative District 58

2006 Utah Candidates for State Legislative District 60

2006 Utah Candidates for State Legislative District 61

2006 Utah Candidates for State Legislative District 64

2006 Utah Candidates for Provo School Board District P4

2006 Utah Candidates for Nebo School Board District N5

Video is not available for the following races:

Utah State House of Representatives District 27

John Dougall (Republican Party, Incumbent)

Elizabeth Ann Rice-McFarlane (Democratic Party)

Utah State House of Representatives District 59

Lorie Fowlke (Republican, Incumbent)
Website: http://www.votelorie.com

Russ Zimmerman (Libertarian Party)
Website: http://www.utahlib.org/russzimmerman

Utah State School Board District 3

Edward A. Dalton (Nonpartisan, Incumbent)

Richard Moss (Nonpartisan)

A special thanks to all of the candidates, the individuals at Utah Valley State College, and Jessica Connors for the many, many hours spent filming, editing, and preparing this candidate preview.

Charles Garn Coombs (Nonpartisan)
Website:
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5458269664888729926

Rodney H. Oldroyd (Nonpartisan)
Website:
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7772883797363200606

Shannon Poulsen (Nonpartisan, Incumbent)
Website:
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6674443459039439133

Norman Thurston (Nonpartisan)
Website: http://electnorm.blogspot.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3931335489527902501

Shaun Knapp (Constitution Party)
Website: http://www.hangingbyathread.us
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1186903270633314799

Becky Lockhart (Republican Party, Incumbent)
Website: http://www.beckylockhart.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3864480697777806672

Kenneth Peay (Democratic Party)
Website: http://www.kenpeay.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2228429926041857002

Susan Chasson (Democratic Party)
Website: http://www.checkchasson.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2438534405186036577

Keith Grover (Republican Party)
Website: http://www.keithgrover.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-355463890933514836

Steve Saunders (Constitution Party)
Website: http://steve.fami.ly
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4906906912319727301

Brad Daw (Republican Party, Incumbent)
Website: http://www.braddaw.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8110456366475439909

Ed Lalone (Democratic Party)
Website: http://www.votelalone.org
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4682183285076438695

Scott Swain (Constitution Party)
Website: http://www.scottswainhome.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=250914675886580615

Stephen Sandstrom (Republican Party)
Website: http://www.votesandstrom.com
Video: [No Video for this Candidate]

Ed McGarr (Constitution Party)
Website: http://www.mcgarr2006.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3698497584945442459

Gordon Mella (Constitution Party)
Website: http://www.votemella.com
Video: [No Video for this Candidate]

Margaret Dayton (Republican Party)
Website: http://margaretdayton.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7598861658259584154

Bethanie Newby (Democratic Party)
Website: http://www.votenewby.org
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=322056671808340935

Adam Ford (Democratic Party)
Website: http://electford.org
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3098078690802387647

Howard Stephenson (Republican Party, Incumbent)
Website: http://www.howardstephenson.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2301710480967286735

Steve White (Republican Party, Incumbent)
Website: http://www.not1redcent.com
Video: [No Video for this Candidate]

Joseph Brierley (Democratic Party)
Website: http://www.yesjoseph.org
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1108307056640743306

Christian Burridge (Democratic Party)
Website: http://www.burridgeforcongress.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2071735270930900718

Chris Cannon (Republican Party, Incumbent)
Website: http://www.chriscannon.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2432225426466120316

Phil Hallman (Libertarian Party)
Website: http://www.myspace.com/phil44congress
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8939401696654086062

Jim Noorlander (Constitution Party)
Website: http://www.noorlander4congress.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3899859733282292816

Jim Matheson (Democratic Party, Incumbent)
Website: http://www.mathesonforcongress.com
Video: [No Video for this Candidate]

Bob Brister (Green Party)
Website: http://www.bristerforcongress.org
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8427983640438140562

Lavar Christensen (Republican Party)
Website: http://www.lavarforcongress.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1251132372852056506

Austin Sherwood Lett (Libertarian Party)
Website:
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7110365718701925683

W. David Perry (Constitution Party)
Website: http://www.perry4congress.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4757798434486339719

Orrin Hatch (Republican Party, Incumbant)
Website: http://www.orrin2006.com
Video: [No Video for this Candidate]

Julian Hatch (Desert Green Party)
Website: http://hatchforsenate.org
Video: [No Video for this Candidate]

Pete Ashdown (Democratic Party)
Website: http://www.peteashdown.org
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5471907336090556310

Scott N. Bradley (Constitution Party)
Website: http://www.scottbradleyforsenate.com
video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2790905379328730557

Roger I. Price (Personal Choice Party)
Website: http://www.rogeriprice.com
video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6395951541230958441

Dave Starr Seely (Libertarian Party)
Website: http://www.seelyforsenate.com
Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6450406130053571037