Welcome to Wednesday. Seek higher ground (the mountains) if you want to stay cool.
Top of the news:
Today is the 219th day of the year. There are 146 days remaining in 2019.
6 days to the 2019 Utah primary elections (8/13/2019)
90 days to the 2019 municipal elections (11/5/2019)
148 days until candidates can begin to gather signatures to get on the 2020 ballot (1/2/2020)
173 days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (1/27/2020)
180 days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses (2/3/2020)
209 days to the 2020 Utah presidential primary (3/3/2020)
218 days to the final day of the 2020 Utah Legislature (3/12/2020)
219 days to the opening of candidate filing for the 2020 election (3/13/2020)
Huntsman brings intrigue to gubernatorial race
By LaVarr Webb, Publisher
The likely entry of Jon Huntsman Jr. into the gubernatorial race is going the shake things up dramatically. But perhaps Huntsman won't be a slam-dunk winner like most pundits (me included) thought he would be. The popular Huntsman may not be invincible, after all. Huntsman's apparent vulnerability, and the prospect of a Huntsman/Spencer Cox battle, might actually encourage other candidates to get into the race. In a free-for-all, with no "anointed" candidate, anything can happen.
Survey research: GOP has challenge to attract younger voters
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
In this spring's county and state Republican Party conventions, leaders stressed time and again that the party needs to attract more younger voters, and keep them as they grow older. Now a new UtahPolicy.com/Y2 Analytics poll shows why party leaders are worried about the future: Younger Utahns are less partisan and less Republican than their elders.
Scott Simpson is contemplating a run for Congress
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
One of the people considering a run in 2020 for the now-open 1st Congressional District seat is Scott Simpson who may not be a household name to northern Utah GOP voters, but is certainly well thought of inside Utah Republican politics.Simpson for the last 16 years has been the head of the Utah Credit Union Association, and has lobbied on Utah's Capitol Hill for that group.
Huntsman likely to come home & seek governorship
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
In criticizing a story about former Gov. Jon Huntsman, now ambassador to Russia, on CNN, former Utah First Lady Mary Kaye Huntsman confirmed what UtahPolicy.com first reported some time ago: That the Huntsman family will leave the ambassadorship this fall.
Communications tip: Use this methodology to create PR plan
By LaVarr Webb, Publisher
In both business and politics, when we have something important to communicate, we sometimes brainstorm and toss out things like, "We should send out a press release" or, "Let's do a social media campaign." Rather than shooting from the hip, it makes a lot more sense to follow a proven methodology to create an effective communications plan and strategy. Follow these seven steps to create that plan:
Opinion briefs: A tribute to Norma Matheson . . . Is climate change or federal debt greatest threat?
By LaVarr Webb, Publisher
What's greatest threat to your family? I don't really like the word "existential", as in "existential threat." The definition has been perverted to mean a threat to one's very existence, rather than its original reference to the individual as a free agent responsible for his or her own actions.But because the word is so commonly misused, I'll further exploit it with what I think is a very interesting question: Which is the greatest existential threat: Climate change, or the federal debt? Which one will most damage your family, your children and grandchildren in the next 10, 15 or 20 years?
Where do Utahns get their news? Mostly from on-line sources
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Most Utahns are now getting their news from online content, a UtahPolicy.com/Y2 Analytics survey finds.The newest Utah Political Trends poll asked about 2,400 registered voters where they learn about current events.And their answers should worry any traditional news source that is not making great efforts to get its news product online, and attract online readers.
Deseret News
Salt Lake Tribune
Aftermath of mass shootings. McConnell faces pressure to bring Senate back for gun legislation (The Hill). 'Red flag' gun control bills pick up momentum with GOP in Congress (New York Times). Some useful steps to identify and deter dangerous individuals (Wall Street Journal opinion). Trump to visit Dayton & El Paso, creating mixed feelings (The Hill) (New York Times). Obama throws down challenge to Trump (The Hill).
Stock Market: U.S. and European stocks climb despite lingering trade worries (Wall Street Journal).
Trade Wars: Beijing digs in to outlast Washington and Trump (Wall Street Journal). U.S. collects $63 billion in Chinese tariffs through June (Wall Street Journal). Chinese crackdown in Hong Kong could be the end of a trade deal (Wall Street Journal).
2020 election. Sanders, Warren gain on Biden in New Hampshire (The Hill). Warren has big operation and big crowds in early-voting Nevada (Politico). Booker's strong debate performance shows no sign of moving voters (Politico). Some Democrats are frustrated with the news media (Politico). Trump remains underwater in critical battleground states (Morning Consult).
Obituary: Remembering Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, who "bent language to her will" (New York Times).
1787 The first draft of the proposed Constitution of the United States is debated in Philadelphia.
1890 The first-ever execution by electric chair is carried out in a New York prison. A man convicted of killing his lover with an axe is executed.
1911 Lucille Ball is born in Jamestown, New York. She becomes one of America's most beloved comic actresses.
1945 The U.S. bomber Enola Gay drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing about 80,000 people and effectively ending WWII.
1965 Pres. Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote.
314 Action endorses Erin Mendenhall for SLC mayor
314 Action, the nation's largest resource for scientists and STEM professionals running for public office, announced its endorsement of Erin Mendenhall. Erin is running to be mayor of Salt Lake City. Now in her second term on the City Council, Erin entered public service as a clean-air activist. She co-founded a non-profit organization, Breathe Utah, to create educational programming for Utahns and advocate for better policy, and now chairs Utah's Air Quality Board. Erin earned a master's degree in Science and Technology from the University of Utah and has made improving Salt Lake City's air quality through practical, evidence-based solutions the centerpiece of her campaign.
Gov Herbert appoints new policy & communications directors
Gov. Gary R. Herbert has announced the appointments of Gordon Larsen as policy director and Anna Lehnardt as communications director, following Paul Edwards' move to Brigham Young University's Wheatley Institution.
Strata creates new initiative called Stratasphere
The free-market think tank Strata, based in Logan, has embarked on a new initiative called The Stratasphere, which publishes short articles and seeks to find common ground with critics.Randy Simmons, president and co-founder of Strata, issued this statement:
Ambassador to China praises Utah's efforts on trade relations
While participating in the National Governors Association Summer Meeting held in Salt Lake City, U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad met with WTC Utah as well as local business leaders and legislators with strong ties to China. The luncheon provided a forum for the group to discuss the importance of engaging with China on a state level despite international trade disputes.
Press release: American Dreams Ideas Challenge seeks innovative policy ideas
The University of Utah, in partnership with Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, is sponsoring the American Dream Ideas Challenge. The challenge calls for innovative policy ideas or investable concepts that have the potential to increase net income for 10,000 middle-class households in Utah by 10 percent by 2022.
Trust
"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them." Ernest Hemingway
Debate Diatribe
"The election is still 16 months away, you have to have a lot of people at first, right? It's like sea turtles hatching on a beach, O.K.? Lots of birds circling overhead but there are thousands of them, one of them has to make it to the water. Plus, it's going to be so fun to watch those birds drag off Bill de Blasio." - STEPHEN COLBERT
