Believe it or not, Utah's 1st District congressional race essentially pits King David vs. President Chester A. Arthur.
At least, the real candidates — Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and Democrat Morgan Bowen — compare themselves, their challenges and styles to those two historical figures.
Bowen, an LDS seminary teacher who lives in Hyde Park, Cache County, refers to the Bible and David when he talks about his race. "It's David vs. Goliath. Goliath is the big money machine in Washington," he says of the 18-1 margin that Bishop has been able to outraise and outspend him.
He adds that Bishop has all the advantages and resources, and everyone expects him to win. "But sometimes you just have to stand up for something you believe in," and sometimes little Davids win. Much of his focus has been to attack the money going to Bishop, and the favors he says Bishop performs in return for it.
Meanwhile, Bishop — a former high school history and civics teacher and Utah legislator who has served three terms in Congress — defends himself against such attacks and compares himself to Chester Arthur, his favorite politician for his courage.
"Arthur was placed on a ticket as vice president to reward those who did not want public service reform. When James Garfield was shot, Arthur becomes president and does a complete turnaround. He wants to do what is right, even though it cuts him off from some of his old friends. He's not renominated," Bishop the history teacher says.
"I've always thought of that as kind of a model," he says. "What I really want to do is the right thing regardless of what the impact may be."
The stone Morgan slings most often at political giant Bishop asserts that he is essentially being bought by big-money interests, while Bishop insists he is interested only in doing the right thing like the courageous Arthur.
"We have a Congress that is bought and paid for, it's as simple as that," Bowen says. "We've got to change fundamentally how that business is done in Washington."
For example, Bowen points to how executives from Engineering and Software Systems Solutions (known as ES3) gave Bishop a total of $17,400 — about $1 of every $14 he raised — and he says Bishop helped it obtain an earmark in a spending bill worth millions.
Similarly, he notes Bishop received $28,000 from EnergySolutions — about $1 of every $9 he raised — and Bowen complains Bishop will not join in a bill to block the company from importing radioactive waste from Italy to Utah.
"Because he has this huge donation stream coming from them, he has to stand with them," Bowen said. "If I started acting like that, I would expect my constituency to kick me out of office."
Bishop says Bowen is mistaken. On the ES3 attacks, Bishop said, "I didn't get an earmark ... It was actually put in by the Senate, not the House. I wish I had done it, but I didn't."
He adds the earmark was to the Air Force, not ES3, for a program that it contracts with ES3 to operate. "So ES3 getting the contract is because of what they do and their business ability, not because of my political ability. So the cause-effect relationship is a cute idea, but it just doesn't fit reality."
About EnergySolutions, Bishop says he wants states to decide what waste they will accept and not have that dictated by Washington. "I don't want to empower Washington. I want to empower states."
Outside the charges about money and politics, the candidates actually have much in common. Both dove into politics at an early age, both agree on most issues, and both even taught high school students for years. Bowen has six children, and Bishop has five. Both are LDS.
"My family was always involved in politics. My father was mayor (of Kaysville)," Bishop says. "I always remember him going to conventions and being involved in campaigns as if that were the norm. Since then, I've always had an interest in government and politics."
He would become vice chair of the Davis County Teenage Republicans at age 17. He would go on to earn a degree in political science, and teach history and civics for 28 years in Brigham City. He served 16 years in the Utah Legislature — including two as Speaker of the House. He was chair of the Utah Republican Party. And he serves in Congress.
Bowen, meanwhile, said he also started working on local and congressional campaigns as a teenager. He graduated high school early at age 16, and at age 17 became the youngest student body president ever at Merced College in California.
He said he served on the college's board of trustees as it investigated and removed the college president for malfeasance. He worked his way through school, in part, by working on campaigns. He worked in Congress as an intern. He would later run a family agriculture consulting firm, then switched to teach LDS seminary "because I always wanted to, and because it was more family friendly."
Bowen said while he was a registered Democrat in college, he spent most of his recent years as an independent or working for the Reform Party. He reregistered as a Democrat to run for office (which he is doing "because I want to make the world a better place"), but he says independent thinking is needed for change to happen.
Among changes needed, Bowen said, "I think in this district particularly among the LDS, there appears to be a 'just vote for the R (Republican)' mentality. I get a sense that's starting to change. I think they can vote for a person they are comfortable with, for a person they feel shares their values," like maybe a seminary teacher.
Bishop said, meanwhile with a grin, "I think northern Utah voters are highly intelligent. They've illustrated that in the past (when they elected him), and I hope they illustrate that in the future."
E-mail: lee@desnews.com