Deseret Morning News, October 16, 2007
Tad Walch

PROVO — A Republican and a Democrat go into a Utah County Internet cafe. They ask the barista for bagels, pop open their laptops and access the shop's wireless Internet service.
The Republican logs onto the Utah County GOP Web site, but she can't make an online contribution, can't find any video and discovers some links are dead.\

Meanwhile, the Democrat pulls up her party's relaunched Web site and clicks on a link that sends her to a videotaped welcome message on YouTube. She also can make a secure online donation.

The difference? The Republican Party dominates Utah County without snazzy Web graphics, while the new leadership team guiding the county Democrats is willing to try new things to chip away at that dominance.

The Democrats want to look energetic and cutting-edge in a county where they are outnumbered 11-1 — 111,368 registered Republicans and 9,746 registered Democrats.

One way to do that is to use YouTube, so Utah County Democratic Party chairman Richard Davis sent an e-mail to reporters Monday with a link to a videotaped press release on YouTube (www.youtube.com).
"We're the Democrats, and we're on the move," Davis said at the end of the video. During an interview Monday, he said, "We thought (YouTube) might be a novel way to get journalists to pay attention."
Mission accomplished. Now that www.utahcountydems.com is launched, it's time for the next trick: convince Utah County voters the party can field candidates who are electable here even if they have a capital D next to their names.

"There's this assumption there are no Democrats in Utah County," Davis said. "We want people to know that's not the case — there are nearly 10,000 of us — and we're working to provide viable candidates so people know there is more than one option to vote for. We're working to get candidates who voters want to elect, to have serve, to make public policy because they share their values on education, health care, transportation and growth that preserves our quality of life in Utah and Utah County."

Over at Republican headquarters, county party chairwoman Marian Monnahan said the local GOP isn't doing anything quite as hip posting to YouTube at www.utahgop.org.

"Nope, not at the moment," she said. "We're in the middle of doing other things. It might be an interesting thing to try. They're trying to make inroads, so that's probably where the difference comes in. We're just plugging along and doing our thing."

That appears to be a fairly safe bet in a county where only 1.6 percent of registered voters are Democrats.
And a reason the Democrats turned to the Web.

"I want to encourage people to come to the site and take a look at what we're doing," Davis said. "We want people to know we're a presence. We want people to know we're here and we share their values on the issues most important to them."

The Democrats also have created a new club for donors, the Bill Orton Circle, named for the Democrat who represented Utah County in Congress from 1991-97. Club membership, which now stands at 12, is based on donations of $1,200 or more per year to the party.

"It's designed to honor Bill Orton, who was a model for us of a Democrat who successfully appealed to Utah County voters and showed them he was a good legislator," Davis said.
He also was heartened by the visit last week to Brigham Young University by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Davis hailed Reid's speech at BYU and said Reid's 25 years in Congress as a pro-life Democrat and active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is "a great model" for Utah County residents.

"There is a perception that to be a Democrat you have to be in favor of Roe v. Wade," Davis said.
The Utah County Democratic Party's platform mirrors that of the LDS Church, declaring "abortion should be limited to instances of pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or in cases of fatal fetal deformities," or that threaten the life or health of the mother.

"The state platform says nothing about support for Roe v. Wade or abortion on demand," Davis said. "The point is there are many, many Democrats, and I think they are coming forward, people like me and others, saying we are Democrats for many reasons but we disagree with other Democrats on abortion and that doesn't mean we can't be in the same party.

"The leader in the Republican presidential race, Rudy Giuliani, is pro-choice on abortion. It seems odd Republicans would say they are going to vote for Rudy Giuliani but not for a Democrat who is pro-life on abortion."

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