The “Final Four” for Lt. Governor Gary Herbert?

A little after 10pm last night, the Deseret News published an article entitled Herbert names 2 possible picks for lieutenant governor. Two persons on the list are acknowledged by Lt. Governor Herbert. They are:

Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, Senate Majority Assistant Whip
Stuart Adams, Utah Transportation Commission Chairman

The DesNews has “learned” two other names are still on the short list. Those additional names are:

Michael Jensen, Salt Lake County Commissioner
Natalie Gochnour, Salt Lake Chamber Chief Operating Officer

Everyone up for a group analysis of the “final four” here? How would you advise our county’s own soon-to-be Governor?

What to Do Differently in the Utah County/State GOP for Victory in 2010?

Coming out of two organizing conventions–the Utah County one in April and the State one in June–there was much talk of increased transparency, expanded use of Internet/web technology, and a more participatory Party.

My concern is how “culturally ready” the Utah County and State Republican Party organizations are to engage in the process of bringing about changes.

Let’s talk about we Utah County Republicans first.  Here are a couple of observations relating to the Utah County Central Committee Meeting (5/30/09):

1. I was SO impressed with the new Party Leadership’s (Taylor Oldroyd, Mark Cluff, Lisa Shepherd, and Lynn Taylor) efforts to engage and empower the Committee members by using Pulse Interactive Media’s audience response technology to get real-time votes. Boldness by first meeting innovation covers a multitude of past meeting execution-related sins.

2. I was less impressed with the patience of the Central Committee Members as the rather lengthy agenda discussion took place.  The agenda changes needed to happen, but it raised the concern in me for the level of patience and thinking we the Committee Members are willing to exercise and do. As a Party, and as the CCC, we need to come to the understanding that things need to be debated and discussed to get the best results.

3. As a Party, it may be we’re forgetting that people get the “Of the People” government we are willing to put in for. We’re right where we’ve worked ourselves to as a Party and Leadership, and while people may or may not be happy with where that place is–if we wish to change things, we must realize it will take work and deliberation.

Now let’s spend a moment on the challenges I believe the Utah County GOP Executive and Steering Committees will face:

1. Keeping the transparency promise by working in the open, shining a light on EVERYTHING and trusting the Central Committee, the Delegates and the electorate to make the call.

2. Deciding if the Party Leadership will continue to operate using a “knowledge-based” model of control (what you know is the value so you control it), or adopting an “execution-based” model of operation (getting everyone together to debate and discuss what we’re going to do, inviting everyone who wants to come along to do so, and then telling everyone what we’ve done).

I believe there is a great opportunity to tranform the Party and re-vitalize it in Utah County, but it will take work from everyone involved.  How would you advise the Central Committee Members?  What would you suggest to the Party Leadership?

Opinions about Opinions?

I’d like to know your opinions about these (and other) recent opinion pieces that have given me some things to think about.

A June 25, 2009 opinion peice in the Deseret News by columnist Thomas Sowell entitled Republicans need to rethink how they’re playing the game caught my eye. It explores the National Party’s lack of direction and the implications on GOP candidate electability.

A June 26, 2009 Wall Street Journal op-ed piece by columnist Kimberly A. Strassel was quite interesting. It is entitled The Climate Change Climate Change. It seems the “science” behind human-caused climate change is under an assault of its own from some interesting places.

Thomas Friedman penned a thoughtful piece entitled Invent, Invent, Ivent that appeared in the June 27, 2009 issue of the New York Times. As a career high-tech person, this really made me think. It made me think again about our nation’s educational culture regarding academic rigor and the sciences, and where this road leads us.

The July 4, 2009 issue of the Los Angeles Times included a fabulous opinion piece entitled The shining light of our national proposition. It was written by columnist Tim Rutten that was stirring in all save it’s concluding three paragraphs–where I think he made a great leap to stretch the connection between these great quotes and President Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

The Washington Post’s July 5, 2009 editorial entitled Cap and Pay-Off was an interesting read about the economics of “cap and trade.” In short, I believe cap and trade is a fiscal train wreck and a morosely regressive tax in environmentalist’s sheep’s clothing.

There certainly isn’t a want of weighty things to think about as we work to advance a substantial conservative agenda in our county, state and nation, is there? Are there any you’d wish to share with me that I missed?