THE UTAH AMICUS

Why Most Utahns Are Democrats (but just don't know it yet)

By Steve Olsen

"The first chink in my Republican armor was the career of Congressman Bill Orton. I’m a shirt-tail cousin to Rep. Orton, so I was especially interested in what he had to say. His election in one of the most Republican districts in the nation was impressive. More impressive was his performance in Congress.

I remember listening to an interview with Rep. Orton during his first re-election campaign. One of the questions the interviewer asked was, “Why did you run as a Democrat? Wouldn’t it make more sense in Utah to run as a Republican?” When I heard that, I sat up and listened. Good question! I mean, the man did not advocate killing unborn babies, and he wasn’t a socialist, secular humanist, or worst of all, a “liberal”. He was just a normal, good Utah guy. Of course he should be a Republican! I’ll never forget his answer. Bill Orton looked at the interviewer like he had a third eye poking out of his forehead and said simply, “But I’m a Democrat.”

That simple statement floored me. Was it possible I had misunderstood what being a Democrat was all about? That event started me on a journey of re-examination of where I stood on the important issues our state and nation faced."

Highly recommended! To obtain this transcript in its entirety write to: democratamicus@comcast.net