If you find yourself leaning toward the political philosophies of presidential candidate Ross Perot, you might want to consider voting for Utah Democrats.
On Tuesday, the Reform Party of Utah formally endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Bradley, as well as Democratic congressional candidates Bill Orton, Greg Sanders and Ross Anderson. In all four of those races, the Reform Party does not have its own candidates.It is the policy of the Reform Party to endorse "mavericks" who "follow their own personal conscious for the good of the people," said Claire Geddes, Utah campaign coordinator for Perot '96.
The endorsements were based on the candidates' response to a series of questions on issues considered most important by the Reform Party. Among those issues are supporting campaign reform, ending trade agreements that put U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage, ending government subsidies to private businesses, adopting a constitutional amendment to require a balanced federal budget, supporting fiscal policies to eliminate the federal deficit, supporting term limits and restructuring of the tax code to make it more simple and fair.
It was quite evident the Reform Party does not like incumbent Republican Gov. Mike Leavitt, who did not answer the party's questionnaire. "Given his positions and his record for the past four years, he would have scored extremely low on most issues," said Geddes.
To emphasize the point, the Reform Party awarded Leavitt and other state and local officials the Golden Fleece award for spearheading "the record $191 million and still growing giveaway of taxpayer funds to Micron Technology to jump-start the free-market system and bring 1,500 $8-an-hour, high-tech jobs to Utah."
Geddes took another swipe at Leavitt for failing to support campaign finance reforms. Utah is one of only eight states that does not limit campaign contributions by corporations.
"A system which sets no limits on campaign contributions, requires large amounts of money for re-election, then allows politicians the ability to award special-interest tax breaks for business or corporations is a recipe for disaster and an open invitation for corruption," she said.
Geddes then itemized almost $100,000 in contributions to the Leavitt campaign from eight corporations that have received tax breaks and/or preferential treatment at the hand of government.
In the 1st Congressional District race in northern Utah, Sanders won by default when Hansen refused to answer the Reform Party questionnaire. Not that it would have mattered. "Hansen's stated positions are not in accordance with the Reform Party," Geddes said. Sanders scored an 81 out of a possible 100 points on the survey.
Anderson scored considerably better than Independent-turned-Republican Merrill Cook in the race for the 2nd Congressional District in Salt Lake County. Anderson scored a 97 - the highest total of any congressional candidate - while Cook scored an 83.
Natural Law Party candidate Catherine Carter scored an 85.
In the 3rd Congressional District, comprising southern Utah, Utah County and a portion of Salt Lake County, incumbent Rep. Bill Orton scored a 94.5, compared to Republican Chris Cannon's 31 - the lowest total of any of the congressional candidates who responded.
Geddes said Republicans, in general, scored lower because of their support for a 15 percent tax cut, a major point in Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole's campaign. The Reform Party is adamant that there be no tax cuts until the federal budget is balanced and the deficit paid down.