Thank you for the article on the candidates for Legislative District 20, Ted Bradford and Dick Siddoway.
I, too, have puzzled over Siddoway's use of the term "moderate" on his campaign signs. I am certain that he doesn't believe that a moderate amount of corruption in politics is OK, or that a moderate amount of honesty or morality is sufficient. He could not possibly mean that it is good to be moderately wise or prudent.He probably doesn't mean to invoke the meaning of the term as used in the national press, either, since that would imply irreverence for the Constitution, approval of abortion and gay "rights," and a number of other attitudes that I doubt he possesses.
I suspect he is capitalizing on the "political correctness" value of the term, since the national media have succeeded to some degree in establishing "conservative" as an undesirable appellation.
If this is the case, it is unfortunate in two regards. One is that by so doing he would be attempting to establish a favorable impression by employing labels, without the communication of meaningful ideas. And worse, yet, it may succeed in many cases.
Kerry J. Thompson
North Salt Lake