The Nancy Pelosi Lie

What were you really scared of Mr. Christensen, that this intelligent woman may actually have a higher IQ than you?

Utah Republican leadership has once again decided that breeding fear and hate is the key to success in Utah elections.

One of the disgusting tactics utilized by several Republican candidates this election cycle was the malevolent campaign against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Another reprehensible campaign used by Republican candidates was the "Democrats don't have a seat at the table so you need to vote for the Republican" campaign, aka the "it's not the person who matters, it's the Party" campaign. Both of these ill-natured campaigns are great indicators of the arrogance that Utah's current Republican leadership radiates and legislates by.

When we awoke on Wednesday morning our American world had changed. Nancy Pelosi will most definitely become the Speaker of the House, and Nevada Senator Harry Reid will become the new Senate Majority Leader. However, here in Utah many Utahns have again made the choice to close their eyes and vote for many Republican candidates that were not nearly as hardworking or as qualified as their Democratic opponents. While the nation decided to bring balance back to our Capitol, we decided to continue with our one-party system.

On another blog I read something that rang very true. Mitt Romney, a LDS Republican, was elected to the office of governor in liberal Massachusetts. If the liberal citizens of Massachusetts are so bad, why then were they open minded enough to vote in a qualified Republican? As I see it the good liberal citizens of Massachusetts must have taken a real look at who they thought would be the best governor, but here in conservative Utah, so many of us don't even take the time to find out who is running; we simply go to the polls and vote for whomever is running as the Republican.

We allow our Legislature to gerrymandering our districts. We allow our majority to ignore our minority. We close our eyes to those who would work in our best interest simply because they have a D next to their name, and we close our eyes to ethical issues both in our state and nationwide because it's okay to be a lawbreaker as long as you have the elephant by your side.

I'm damn glad that we have an intelligent and pragmatic Democratic leader like Nancy Pelosi in Washington, and I'm damn tired of listening to the conservative lie that our country will go to hell in a hand basket if she becomes the Speaker of the House. I will no longer listen to these lies, and I will not fear saying what I believe is true, that Nancy Pelosi is exactly what America needs, and that Utah is missing the boat when they don't even consider voting for anyone who doesn't have an elephant on their sign.

I am grateful to be a member of the Utah State Democratic Party. I am a better man because of my Democratic associations, and I will not allow others to scare me into hiding my belief in Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi.

I do not need to agree with everything someone believes or says to respect that person, and I need not fear that my respect for Nancy Pelosi is something immoral. I am grateful that she is in Washington to bring back the civility our nation so desperately needs, and I am grateful that we have a Democratic Congressman from Utah named Jim Matheson who will be working on the side of the majority Party, and not as a minority.

If there is any lesson we should learn from this last election it should be that citizens do have a choice, but only if they choose to exercise it by taking a closer look at all of the great candidates that run, not just those who simply say, "I am so and so and I am the Republican candidate...".