GOP candidates draw sold out crowd to annual Lincoln Day Dinner

US Senate candidate Mitt Romney makes keynote speech; US Rep. John Curtis, Utah Rep. Mike Kennedy, state officials take center stage
    The Carbon County Republican Party hosted state and local dignitaries and one two-time presidential contestant Saturday on the campus of Utah State University Eastern.
    The occasion for the grand gathering at the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center was the party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner.
    Hours leading up to the event were spent by numerous candidates setting up booths and filling tables with campaign literature. Several candidates, including U.S. Senate hopefuls Mitt Romney and Dr. Mike Kennedy, as well as U.S. Rep. John Curtis, who represents Utah’s 3rd District, met with local party delegates in private.
    Ahead of the dinner, which was sold out, the public, local business leaders, city and county officials all filled the student center’s broad first floor lobby area.
    Numerous local candidates were on hand, including  State Rep. Christine Watkins and challenger for her seat, Carbon County Commissioner Jae Potter.
    Commissioner Jake Mellor was on hand alongside a couple of primary competitors for his seat, Paul Riddle and Tony Martines.
    Others present, who are vying for Potter’s seat on the county commission, were local GOP Chairwoman Kendra Seeley, Small Business Development Center Regional Director Ryan Murray, Larry G. Jensen and Jay D. Daugherty.
    Besides dinner and conversation, the bulk of the evening was spent with stump speeches and a few lighthearted moments, including a few jabs aimed at the other side of the aisle.
    The following highlights are a collection of quotations and comments from candidates that best represent the tone of the evening and the type of information conveyed to party supporters.
    Missing from the night’s orations were any mention of Saturday’s March For Our Lives protest and the   500,000 high school students and supporters of gun control who descended upon Washington, D.C. No talk of the unfolding Mueller investigation, either.  Nor of the storm of recent headlines involving the party’s leader, President Donald Trump and his alleged marital indiscretions, which culminated in a much-hyped, prime time 60 Minutes interview Sunday on CBS.
    Candidates stuck to  mostly safe subjects and conservative mainstays, such as government spending, federal lands issues, jobs, the opioid epidemic, rural economic development and the like.
    Keynote speaker Romney more than anyone may have strayed briefly from typical GOP talking points. He actually criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    Referencing Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” Romney said to truly make America great, the nation must also be good.
    He cited a fact a prominent Israeli politician told him years ago, that America is different because in all of the wars the nation has fought, it has never taken any land from an enemy.
    “I don’t think Russia under Putin will ever be a great nation, becuase it is not a good nation,” Romney said.
    The former Massacusetts governor touched upon a number of other points throughout his speech, including expressing astonishment at the level of spending in the recently passed $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill. He thanks Utah representatives who did not vote for it.
    “Thank you for not voting for a bill like that,” he said, calling himself a “deficit hawk.”
    Ironically, Sen. Orrin Hatch, whom Romney said urged him to run for his Senate seat—Hatch is retiring after four decades in the Senate—was the only Utahn to vote for the federal spending bill.
    On local matters, Romney made clear he is for local governance on public lands issues. He supports economic diversification efforts in rural counties. He also said he believes Utah can create its own healthcare program to avoid participation in federal programs such as Obamacare.