Precinct Committee Meeting Minutes- 3/30/10

Eagle Mountain Precinct 05 Committee Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

In attendance:

Brandon Watters- Chair

Evan Johnson- Vice Chair

Amy Callahan- Secretary/Treasurer

Josh Mordecai- County Delegate

John Potter- State Delegate

MEETING CONVENED at 7:04

-Request from Amy Callahan for future agendas so that she may distribute them.

-Brandon Watters

• Proposal of plan to go forward in strength for a single candidate
• Is anyone pro-Bennett? UNANIMOUS against
• We need strength to take out Bennett.
• Lee and Bridgewater have very similar platforms. Both are conservative Constitutionalists.
• Bridgewater is pro school-choice but this is not as important on the federal level.
• 6 precincts in Eagle Mountain are leaning toward Mike Lee.
• Would like to see as many people get behind a single candidate.
• Will send a letter to the candidates*
• Want a stong Chaffetz-type Constitutionalist
• Want to form a coalition
• Precinct 4 is building a Facebook page with a poll and is planning to vote the results of the poll.
• Listing of other delegates’ early choices
• Josh Mordecai: We need someone with integrity. We need someone who is solid on the Constitution.
• Brandon Watters: We have been chosen to make the decision.
• John Potter: We want a coalition for what purpose?
• To support a candidate? OR To discover which candidate is best?
• We have two months to communicate with the candidates and then discuss with the coalition.
• We want to vote in someone who can lead other junior Senators
• Brandon Watters: Problems with potential candidates
• Mike Lee
• He is very pro-Judicial Branch
• Cherilyn Eagar
• Her personality rubs people the wrong way. Won’t sway people to her point of view.
• Josh Mordecai: “Just because it is less wrong doesn’t make it right.”
• Discussion of starting a website
• Reading of letter by John Potter*
• Evan Johnson suggested sending the letter(s) to newspapers
• Letter is the first in a series
• Josh Mordecai: Why not send all the questions at once?
• John Potter: Because if they have all the questions they can manipulate their answers.
• Amy Callahan: Why is this your first question? Is this the thing that is most important to you?
• John Potter: They can succeed with people who want to hear their answers. Can they succeed with people who don’t?
• Merrill Cook made himself a joke by not remembering the meeting last Tuesday night (meet the candidates) so it’s down to Bridgewater and Lee.
• Brandon Watters suggested using his website “Right Wing Conspiracy”
• Cited the facts that he gets a lot of hits, has been published
• Read quote from Hilary Clinton explaining the name
• Amy Callahan: I appreciate your name and I understand wanting to use a site that is already successful, but I am concerned that the name will be off-putting to the non-political populace.
• Suggested using multiple sites/blogs with the same content
• Discussion of possible names for site
• Assignment for everyone to have suggestions to Brandon by Thursday.
• Chair assigned Amy Callahan to edit/revise** letter to candidates.
• Facebook page has been opened to comments
• Phone calls to delegates
• Evan and Amy willing to make calls
• Brandon will obtain and distribute phone list
• Discuss county commission?
• Josh Mordecai and Evan Johnson agree that we need more information before discussion
• Steve White
• Allows people to work for the county who do nothing and get paid.
• Fires people who oppose him.
• Heather Jackson is against him. She will come speak to us.
• She says he has lied and harmed our city
• Josh Mordecai: We need to focus on past (voting) records of candidates.
• Evan Johnson: What about Radcliffe?
• No discussion

Motion to adjourn meeting- Amy Callahan

Motion seconded- John Potter

Motion accepted UNANIMOUSLY

MEETING ADJOURNED at 8:05

*LETTER TO CANDIDATES by John Potter

Dear Senate Candidates,

A coalition of Utah delegates is forming. It is our hope that this coalition will be strong and large enough to determine the Republican nominee on May 8^th.

Some believe Bob Bennett has in times past represented us well. Unfortunately he has recently FAILED, a number of times, in upholding our core belief of a smaller Federal government. Because of this our incumbent Senator must be replaced. Our state is not alone in this sentiment. Americans across the nation are attempting to clean up Washington by electing new Senators. As good as this is, there are some MAJOR risks involved with sending a large number of freshmen to Washington all at the same time.

The terms of some of the most powerful (and corrupt) Senators will not end for a number of years. They stand ready to either take these freshmen under their wings or ostracize them, effectively ending their usefulness as a reformer. Not only do we need a candidate that will represent our conservative values in the US Senate, but we need someone who will be able to work effectively despite a corrupt and hostile environment and stand uncorrupted as a leader other Senators will be willing to follow.

We feel each of yo running for Senate this year would represent Utah’s principles well. However, we do not know who will be best suited to lead the US Senate in reform. Therefore, we wish to ask all of you a series of questions that will give us some insight into your ability to lead the US Senate in its need for reform. These questions are NOT an opportunity for you to explain where you stand on issues or platforms. It is an opportunity to help us all better understand HOW you plan on surviving you first few years and insuring reform.

Our first in this series of questions is this:

Te media has reached a new height of corruption and bias. However, Americans consistently derive their opinions and beliefs from what they hear through these outlets. You stand for a number of beliefs that could be used to cast you as an extremist. If you are viewed as a thread to the Teachers Unions or groups who support entitlement, the major media outlets will have a field day casting you and you coalition of Senators as racist, tea-partying, kid-candy stealing, heartless, corporate loving Senators that need to be stopped. This will hamper your effectiveness as a reformer before you ever start.

America WILL form an opinion about you and this opinion will determine you effectiveness as a reformer.

How will you as a freshman Senator use all of the different MAJOR media outlets to build a POSITIVE image and rally support (within the Senate?) for our cause?

Please do not take this or future questions lightly. We are forming a coalition among delegates to support one strong candidate for the sole purpose of replacing the incumbent with a True Conservative Leader not just more of the same. Our support will fall behind the candidate who will best answer our questions.

** REVISION by Amy Callahan

(Preface: I didn't want to completely rewrite John's letter without discussing it with you first, but it seems like there is a lot of build-up addressing corruption in Washington that goes nowhere. I think the question(s) in this letter should be:

How will you keep yourself from being corrupted by the power of politics in Washington?
What steps will you take to ensure your effectiveness as a leader of reform in the U.S. Senate?
Please list 7-10 key points for each of these questions.)

Dear Senate Candidates,

A coalition of Utah delegates is forming. It is our hope that this coalition will be strong and large enough to determine the Republican nominee on May 8th.

A number of times recently our incumbent Senator has failed to uphold our core belief in a smaller Federal Government and therefore must be replaced. The goal of our coalition is to replace Senator Bennett with a True Conservative Leader. Our state is one of many across the nation attempting to clean up Washington by electing new Senators. As good as this is, we are concerned with the great risk involved in sending a large number of freshmen to the Senate at one time.

The terms of some of the most powerful (and corrupt) Senators will not end for a number of years. They stand ready to either take freshmen under their wings or to ostracize them, summarily ending their effectiveness as reformers. We not only need a candidate that will represent our conservative values in the US Senate. We need someone who can work for good in spite of the corrupt and hostile environment, standing with integrity as a leader other Senators will be willing to follow.

We feel each of you running for Senate would represent Utah's principles well. However, we do not as of yet know which of you will be best suited to lead the US Senate in reform. To that end, we wish to ask all of you a series of questions that will give us some insight into your ability to lead as a reformer. The purpose of these questions is not for us to ascertain your stance on issues or gain understanding of your platforms. Rather, we hope to better understand how you are planning to survive your first few years working as a reformer.

Our first question in this series is-

The media has reached a new height of corruption and bias. Americans however, consistently derive their opinions and beliefs from what they hear through these outlets. By representing our core values you stand for a number of beliefs that may be used to label you an extremist. The media may cast you and your co-reformers as racist, tea-partying, heartless, corporate-loving Senators that need to be stopped. America WILL form an opinion about you which will determine your effectiveness as a reformer- possibly before you ever start. How will you use all of the different major media outlets to build a positive image and rally support for our cause (particularly within the Senate)?

We thank you for taking the time to answer this and future questions personally. Our support will fall behind the candidate who best answers our questions.