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(Editorial) Bennion Spencer: A problem-solver, not a zealot |
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Salt Lake Tribune, October 26, 2008
Tribune Editorial Utah's 3rd Congressional District hasn't been represented by a Democrat since the early 1990s and is the most Republican of the state's three districts. Right up there with the most conservative in the country, in fact.
The question that 3rd District voters will answer on Nov. 4 is whether they want to be represented in Congress by the radical right-wing idealogue Jason Chaffetz, who is at odds with much of his own party, or Bennion Spencer, a right-of-center Democrat and erstwhile Republican.
But setting aside any consideration of party labels,The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board believes Bennion Spencer would better represent Utah County and the rest of the district than would Chaffetz, who cites party reform, not the drafting and shaping of legislation, as his top priority.
Spencer sees the urgency for national reform of the nation's broken economic, financial, immigration and foreign policies. But for him, solving the energy crisis is paramount. He recognizes the threat to the planet from the burning of fossil fuels that is warming the planet. (Chaffetz calls global warming a farce.)
Spencer wants the federal government to expedite the development of an array of alternative sources of energy while continuing to drill for domestic oil and gas. He rightly believes nuclear power is too expensive and requires too much water, but we disagree with him that mining oil shale should be part of that carbon bridge to clean energy.
Chaffetz favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; Spencer does not.
Spencer backed the $700 billion federal bailout plan for failing financial institutions with the proviso that no money go to corporate executives. Chaffetz naively opposes any government rescue package and believes that Wall Street must mend itself.
The fuel that has driven the Chaffetz campaign, and brought him a stunning 18-point victory over six-term Republican Rep. Chris Cannon in the primary election, is illegal immigration. Cannon's reasonable and humane policy - one of the reasons we endorsed him in the primary - was no match for Chaffetz' xenophobia. He would incarcerate undocumented immigrants in tent cities while they await deportation. And he would offer no "path to citizenship."
We agree with Spencer that the Chaffetz plan is a despicable display of intolerance for political gain, and that it does not represent mainstream values in Utah. Both candidates would improve border security, a good thing, but Spencer believes the government should crack down on businesses that knowingly hire illegal workers. And he supports creating an avenue for law-abiding undocumented workers to become citizens after payment of a fine.
For us, the chief difference between the candidates is that one has the instincts of a collaborative problem-solver and the other has the markings of a self-righteous zealot.
Chaffetz vows he will be "pounding on lecterns" when he gets to Washington. We acknowledge that this rhetoric plays well with voters justifiably angry with their government. But unbending adherence to political ideology is partly to blame for the current mess, and it surely is no recipe for getting out of it.
The art of politics is principled compromise, and it is regrettable that Jason Chaffetz seems to have no eye for complementary colors. Bennion Spencer clearly does, and would take that vision to Congress. |
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