Daily Herald, August 25, 2010
Ken Stiles

Our state legislators are engaged in political posturing while our schools are in trouble. Exhibit A is Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem. Not known for choosing her words carefully, she has once again uttered a statement that is unreasonable and bizarre. In response to the State Board of Education's decision to endorse the Common Core Standards, she is charging the board members with surrendering to the federal government. Our school boards may as well be "clerks," she is quoted as saying in the Daily Herald.

I'm all in favor of local control as the starting point for good policy -- as in the case of Provo zoning laws -- but to say that all educational goals developed outside of the state of Utah are a threat to our sovereignty is extremist, and distracts us from the real problems of Utah's schools. The Common Core Standards are not a federal program, for starters, nor are they mandatory. They are not even tied to any funding. They are merely the aspirations of several state governors. It was one thing to oppose No Child Left Behind -- an unfunded federal mandate, which deserved to be challenged in court. Opposing the "Race to the Top" was a bit odder since it's mostly just another funding opportunity made available by Washington -- much like the various specialized study grants offered by the Department of Education that BYU's Kennedy Center recently won. But to oppose the Common Core Standards means to me that Dayton has left logic behind.

It is this type of emphasis on ideology above all that has paralyzed and disserved education policy in Utah. Consider the Alpine School District board that has wasted thousands of taxpayer dollars debating whether we live in a democracy or a republic while student dropout rates and bullying continue to climb. Consider Dayton's odd fixation on cutting funding to the international baccalaureate (a program endorsed by George W. Bush himself) while helping to make sure that Utah remains in a distant last place in the country in per pupil funding and, sadly, solidly in first place in the number of students per teacher. Teacher salaries start at roughly $27,000 -- 45th in the country -- thanks to the budgets approved by Dayton.

While Dayton may not want our local school boards to become clerks, her actions and those of the state legislature have reduced them to beggars. Were it not for the impressive resourcefulness and activity of parents and teachers, the situation would be catastrophic.

I believe it is time to set aside unthinking ideology and begin to tackle the real problems in our state's schools. They are in a crisis. This is not a time for political posturing.

Ken Stiles is a resident of Orem.

Daily Herald, May 22, 2010
Joe Pyrah

The temperature of Utah's political climate has climbed into the boiling range, what with Sen. Bob Bennett being ousted on the right and Rep. Jim Matheson facing a stiff challenge on the left.

In the middle are Utah County Democrats.

The party is recognizing former Republican Gov. Olene Walker tonight with its Distinguished Service Award. County Democrats came up with Walker's name during a brainstorming session.

"The first reaction was 'She probably wouldn't come and accept it,' " said Chairman Richard Davis.

But Walker did accept, he said, giving them a chance to award "someone who we felt had not gotten enough recognition."

Walker became Utah's 15th governor after Mike Leavitt was nominated to head the EPA under President George W. Bush. But she failed to even make the primary ballot after losing in the 2004 GOP convention to Nolan Karras and Jon Huntsman Jr.

The Democrats' website announcing the award is to the point.

"During her tenure as governor, Olene Walker tried to do what was right for the state of Utah even if it didn't please the extremist Republican activists," it reads.

Walker isn't the only Republican woman to be embraced by the left. Gubernatorial candidate Peter Corroon has chosen Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, as his running mate against Gov. Gary Herbert and Lt. Gov. Greg Bell.

Olene Walker "appealed to the mainstream," those honoring her say.

Salt Lake Tribune, May 20, 2010
Donald W. Meyers

Utah County Democrats are honoring a former Republican governor Saturday.

The Democrats will present former Gov. Olene S. Walker with their first distinguished service award during the party's annual dinner at the Covey Center for the Arts, 425 W. Center St., Provo.

"She has not been honored by her own party, so we are going to do it," said Richard Davis, Utah County Democratic chairman.

Walker, a former state legislator, served as Gov. Mike Leavitt's lieutenant governor until 2003, when Leavitt resigned to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Walker lost her bid for the party's nomination at the 2004 state GOP convention.

Davis said Walker is the antithesis of extreme partisans who dominate the Legislature today and had a hand in driving her out of office.

Deseret News, May 11, 2010
Steve Mascaro

I'm wondering if you can help me find something. I have used it for more than 40 years, and you have probably used it, too. It's the Utah Republican Party. We seemed to have lost it. It was last borrowed by the tea party and Patrick Henry guys — as well as others — who have put a few nicks and dents in it. It doesn't purr quite like it used to do. It seems to screech and holler and boo and scream more than before. I think maybe they broke it. I'm not sure, because I just can't find it. And there are a whole lot of us looking for it.

Maybe we will just have to go out and get a new Utah Republican Party that respects people's differences, that understands what being kind to one another and respecting differing views really means; a party that likes to work together to solve problems — you know, the party of the big tent that President Ronald Reagan talked about. Yes, that party — the one that President Abraham Lincoln helped bring together, the one made up of Independent Northern Democrats, the Fusion Party, the Know Nothing Party, Sympathetic Whigs, Anti-Slavery Democrats, the Radical Republicans and the Conservative Republicans who came together to make our old Utah Republican Party.

Well, I think you know what I mean.

If any of you happen to run across the old, "real" Utah Republican Party and think it might still be salvageable, could you let us know where to find it?

We really miss it.

We hope to find it before it's too late.

Rep. Steven Mascaro lives in West Jordan.

Deseret News, April 18, 2010
Marc Haddock

OREM — Promoting themselves as Utah County's "mainstream party," about 150 Democrats met Saturday at Orem Junior High School for the Utah County Democratic Party convention.

"If you want to be with the extremist party, they meet next week," said Chairman Richard Davis, referring to the Utah County Republican Party convention on April 25 at Mountain View High School. "We don't boo our elected officials."

To prove the point, convention delegates gave a warm reception to Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, who has come under fire within party circles for voting with House Republicans against the health care reform package.

There was some gentle ribbing, however, as Alan Keele, who is running for Utah House District 60, held up a poster which included a drawing of a brown dog and told Matheson, "Sorry, Jim. I should have had them color the dog blue."

Matheson was wooing delegates for the May 8 state Democratic Party convention, where he'll be challenged by Claudia Wright. The boundaries for Utah's 2nd Congressional District include the northeast corner of Utah County, including American Fork, Lehi, Alpine and Highland.

Daily Herald, April 18, 2010
Genelle Pugmire

Utah County Democratic Chairman Richard Davis says his party is the mainstream political party in Utah County.

Davis made the statement at Saturday's Utah County Democratic Convention, where nearly 200 delegates, candidates and residents met to hear from the top Democratic leadership in the state, and to meet their candidates for legislative and local races.

Asking for more civility in government, and the need for two working, viable parties in Utah County, Davis said, "we're different than them," referring to county Republicans.

"We are also not the Tea Party," Davis said. "We understand their frustration. They want a fresh focus in government, and so do we."

Davis did say there are many platform similarities with local Republicans, including the anti-abortion and right to life statements, and the party being against same-sex marriages.

Keynote speaker and Utah Senate Minority Leader Pat Jones said she would normally feel uncomfortable about speaking about religion and politics in the same breath, "but in Utah County I'm forced to. In Utah, Republican is religion."

Jones listed several topics that local Democrats are addressing in their campaigns, beginning with family safety, education needs, economic growth and the development of Utah's resources -- all family issues.

Salt Lake Tribune, April 16, 2010
Donald W. Meyers

Richard Davis is hoping 2010 will be a good year for Democrats in Republican-dominated Utah County.

Davis, the Utah County Democratic Party Chairman, said the party is fielding a strong slate this year, including two former mayors, a former state Board of Education member and a former Republican legislator.

"With these candidates, there is an image change going on," Davis said. "Two years ago [socially and fiscally conservative Democrats] might have been an aberration, but maybe this isn't a flash in the pan, but something more substantial."

And, he said the Republican-dominated Legislature's fixation on message bills won't hurt the Democrats at all.

But Taylor Oldroyd, Utah County Republican Chairman, is confident the GOP will prevail, thanks in part to discontent with President Barack Obama's agenda.

"With what is happening in Washington, this is a tough year for Democrats," Oldroyd said.

Unlike the Republican Party convention, scheduled for April 24, the Democratic Convention lacks the drama of contested seats. But Davis said what is impressive is the quality of the candidates.

Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 2010
Thomas Burr

Linnea Barney was a lifelong Republican and after years on the state school board thought she had retired in 2004 from politics and public service. Then Richard Davis called.

Davis, the head of the Utah Democratic Party, urged Barney to jump into a state Senate race as a Democrat against incumbent Margaret Dayton, whom Barney considers to be on the far right fringe of the Republican Party.

Barney switched her party registration and tossed her hat into the ring. The education activist isn't overly optimistic she can topple Dayton, but she believes voters should have a choice when they enter the polling booth in November.

"That really is the main reason," Barney says. "It's really not right to see candidates run unopposed year after year."

The Utah County Democratic Party -- which may seem an oxymoron in one of the most conservative pockets in America -- is doing its best this election cycle to ensure voters have that choice. The party is fielding 16 candidates, including challengers in every legislative race but two.