Rob Miller, Inspiring Blogger and Political Face For Utah 'n Democrats by Darlene Kelsch

See the original post by Darlene Kelsch, here!

I got the opportunity to speak with Rob Miller and hear his amazing story 

… I would like to share that with you. 

There are many accomplishments and struggles that come with reaching for what you believe in, but in the end if you stick to it and know where you are headed, you will get there. …

 As Rob Miller learned first hand..

 Rob Miller was given the task of finding the perfect middle name for his son, Samuel had been decided as the first name but he knew he wanted a great middle name, something strong, that stood for something great.

 Stepping out of the elevator, hanging on the wall in front of him was a plaque with the word ‘Amicus’ on it, meaning ‘Friend’ in Latin.

 That was it! He knew that would be the middle name of his son; Samuel Amicus Miller.

Rob Miller for a change

 Rob Miller had been watching the families and people in Utah and the health situations they were living in.

 One day Rob saw that an elderly woman named Nancy that had been struggling with finances because of poor health actually took her own life rather than have to ask her children to provide for her.

 The news of her death really bothered Rob and he believed health care should be available to everyone.

 Rob Miller new something needed to change, and he needed to be that change.

 In 2004 Rob Miller decided to run for a position in the Utah State Democratic Party Executive Committee. Initially Rob Miller wanted to run for the Chair but because of doubts from himself and others, he did not end up running for Chair, but he did not let that stop him from running for Vice Chair.

 Rob Miller got a push from many associates and his good friend Shane Giddings told Rob who to speak with and what to do, Shane told Rob to speak with Todd Taylor and do everything He says to do.

 As a result, Rob Miller went to see Calvin L. Rampton who then gave Rob Miller his endorsements, and Rob started running.

 While running for Vice Chair, Rob Miller came across SLCSpin, a blog by Ethan Millard that with just one word could send the Utah politics into a frenzy! … Rob Miller was addicted to blogging here on.

 Around this time, Donald Dunn announced that he would not run for re-election as State Party Chair. This set the Democrats world ablaze. Questions were flying, “Who will lead us?” “Who will be our voice?” Shockingly, that year 9 people ran for Chair and Rob Miller was in the running with 4 others for Vice Chair.

 After Rob Millers first official appearance as candidate he found himself laid out on the couch with what he figured to be a terrible anxiety attack. He had to remind himself that he had good people behind him like Mike Young and Dan Thatcher and Jeff Bell, All of it Todd Taylor approved…

 …. So they went out and did everything they could to win the race! Jeff Bell, also known as JM Bell, created Robs campaign site… The first blog Rob Miller was ever associated with.. and to Jeff’s credit, the first Utah Democratic Party candidate website to have Spanish Translation.

 When LaVarr Webb mentioned the campaign blog on his site UtahPolicy.com it was big! It got bloggers and their followers now watching posts by Utah Democrat, Rob Miller and opening up the way for them to get to know who Rob Miller really is.

 Finally, as the running came to a close, Rob Miller won vice chair by just 28 votes!

Is Rob Miller a cup half full or cup half empty guy???

 A month after winning vice chair, Rob Miller lost his job because he came forward as being a Democrat. Robs’ boss told him after he came forward as a Democrat that everything he says now just disgusts him. Rob loved his job and was sad to see it go..

 Rob did not let this get him down though, he could see that things for him had changed.. and that meant inside his job as well.

 Losing his job allowed Rob Miller to get knee deep in his true passion, Utah Politics, which then opened up inviting Todd Taylor back as executive director and Jeff Bell as the party’s communicator director.

 They worked to bring the party and their supporters back together after the election, which included one supporter Cliff Lyon.

 Cliff Lyon put together a blog for their party called Blue Utah. Rob Miller was set to be the voice of this blog. Cliff Lyon told Rob, “You need to start blogging yesterday! We are already behind!”. Rob tried to explain to Cliff that he would need a couple days to get familiar with how the blog template worked and figure out exactly what he was wanting to write about.

 Two days later Rob Miller learned that a couple other guys had already been putting blogs on the site. When Rob address Cliff about it, the reply he got was, “We needed it yesterday!”

 It took Rob Miller a very short time to realize that though he and Cliff Lyon were very good friends, he could not let this be the voice for the Utah Democrat politics.

 Rob Miller was on a mission to create a blog that would be for the betterment of the Utahn people. Not just for his voice of the voices of the Democrat people, but the for voice of all sharp Utahn’s to educate and put good ideas forward.

 Sitting at his computer, staring at the screen, trying to decide the perfect name for his blog. He knew he wanted it to be great, something strong, something that had a meaning to the people. Rob had already made a list of at least twenty names but nothing stood out to him.

 His son, Samuel Amicus, came bursting into the room laughing and giggling like little boys do. Rob Miller directed his attention to his son when suddenly it hit him! Amicus! UtahAmicus UtahFriend.. It was perfect..

 .. and so, UtahAmicus was created, from a name very dear to Rob Miller and in honor of his son and daughters, who are the future.

 On February 7, 2006 the very first blog was posted to UtahAmicus titled ‘The Beginning”. It was a letter that had been forwarded to him of all the reasons you should become a Democrat.

 Soon after, Rob Miller was contacted by Ethan Millard and congratulated on a great blog. This was a huge honor for Rob because Ethan Millard was a big name, the ‘King’ even, when it came to Utah political blogs. Soon after this, UtahAmicus really started to get noticed.

 Rob Miller was determined to become better acquainted with Ethan Millard and soon created a good friendship with him.

 There was a lot of confusion at this time as to ‘who’ Ethan Millard really was. People were going as far to say he was the ‘best female voice in Utah politics’ or stating their opinions of his story and even going as far to guessing his sexual preference.

 Rob Miller, with friend Wayne Holland sat down to lunch with Ethan Millard and Rob was able to convince Ethan that when he was ready to come public with his identity, to let Rob first post his picture and story in The UtahAmicus.

 A bit later, Rob Miller was contacted by Ethan Millard telling him that SLCity Weekly was going to honor his blog as the best political blog and tell his story. He told Rob that now would be the time to write his blog and post the picture before the article came out.

 Ethan Millard Blog

 … this was a huge honor for UtahAmicus and ended up leaving many bloggers very envious.

 In 2006 Rob Miller started fighting Parents for Choice Education and by 2007 things started getting really heated. Near the end of the battle, UtahAmicus was getting over 7000 views a day. BlogNetNews began rating the top political blogs at this time and UtahAmicus was in the top 5, typically in 1st place of all political blogs at this time.

 UtahAmicus is said to have lead the way in this fight because of its high influence in the political blogging world.

 Recognition is given to Todd Taylor for the support Rob Miller received. Many of Robs’ blog posts were actually inspired by Todd and encouraged while others around were sending him negative feed back. Todd Taylor inspired Rob to keep going.

 "The pay off from blogging has been the people I’ve been able to meet because of blogging on The Utah Amicus. It has not always been easy. I’ve lost some friends, upset congressional offices, and the stress of it all did have it’s price, but I would do it again because the reward of knowledge and friendship out weighs all the negatives. I believe that The Utah Amicus brought a common sense approach, voice, to the Utah Blogospher and I thank the good Lord for the experience. It has been a great adventure and I thank (With a teardrop rolling down my cheek) all those who participated, lashed out, and read our little blog." -Rob Miller 

 What does Rob Miller stand for? Here is a speech He says to be ‘The greatest speech ever given'

 Accomplishments for Rob Miller

Rob Miller has many accomplishments in his blogging and political career.

 To name a few others…. Rob was connected with a good friend, Tom Grover who at the time was running KNVU’s For The People radio show. Tom Grover became a great ally for Rob Miller and invited Rob many times onto his radio show.

 Later Tom Grover set up a debate on air with the Sutherlands Institutes Paul Mero. Rob Miller proudly won this debate. Funny thing, Paul Mero and Rob Miller actually laughed and messed with each other through this debate and at one point Rob actually leaned over and lifted his coat tail so Paul Mero could kiss his rear end.

They managed to create a friendship through this debate and still regard each other as friends to this day.

 … A site called Bloghive had people, bloggers and readers alike, vote on their favorite blogs and the top bloggers would be put on the board. UtahAmicus got most of the votes, even beating out Jeff Bell by one vote!

 In 2008 Rob Miller was honored by Democratic National Committee by being the first Utah blog to receive their credentials.

 Notable Amicus Bloggers and/or contributors include, Richard Watson, Christian Burridge, Emily Bingham Hollingshead, Uncle Don Miller, Craig Axford, Aaron Thompson, Bob Aagard and Jason Williams.

 One of The Most All Time Viewed Blogs??? …You’re going to laugh.. it doesn’t make sense.. Click Here