We should, perhaps, pity poor Derek Smith that his campaign for the 2nd Congressional District seat is so devoid of energy and ideas that he must resort to transparent emotional labels and outright distortion of the views of his opponent, Jim Matheson.
Because he has so far been totally unable to get a hook into Matheson, Smith relies on pinning those old Utah bugaboos on him, like "liberal, big government, higher taxes," etc. But, guess what? Matheson represents none of these things and Smith knows it. Matheson is a man of impeccable character, with strong centrist values, and a fiscal conservative who has said repeatedly that he wants to pay down the national debt, not increase it with more federal programs.
The fact is that Matheson fits Utah values to a "T," and that's what is driving the Smith campaign crazy. Yes, Matheson comes from a highly regarded political family, but Jim is his own man, a man of conviction, who states his positions clearly and sticks to them. He is a Democrat but one who wants to get beyond party labels to fairly represent his whole constituency.
Smith's recent attack ads in which he attempts to paint Matheson as a tax-and-spend liberal are both ridiculous and fraudulent, the desperate tactics of a candidate who remains well behind in the polls and whose campaign is clearly running on empty.
Keller Higbee
Salt Lake City