It’s as hard to believe that the presidential primary, and then general election is just around the corner, as it is that the Beijing Olympics will be taking place in less than 200 days.
It seems like we just passed by both of those events, not that long ago.
Next week, we in Utah will have an opportunity to help pick out the presidential candidates that will oppose each other in November’s general election. No, each of us probably won’t be the deciding votes, nor will we pick the pivitol delegates for the national conventions this summer. But we will have some kind of say, and it seems for a change that at least the Democratic candidates are worried about how we will vote in the primary on Feb. 5. Hillary and Obama are already running ads to get us to vote for them (or maybe those ads are why we should vote against the other).
Judging by what I have seen, Mitt Romney will almost assuredly win the delegates for the Republican convention from our state. Afterall, a large chunk of that money he has been spending all over the nation is coming from right here in Utah, and not all of it from big batters either. While he is not from Utah, his roots make him a kind of favorite son in the whole thing in this state. If he wasn’t in it I would expect the vote in the state to go for John McCain.
But the Democratic side is more perplexing. At present it could be either of the big two, and no one is really talking about how John Edwards could do either, even though in the debate last week in South Carolina he seemed to be the only person that could keep a cool head. His third place finish there, however, certainly diminishes his chances.
Regardless of who wins this primary, it’s good to know that for a change what Utah says may count. We have aligned ourselves with the Super Tuesday states for our primary, which helps a lot. But this year there are no shoe-in’s in either party and so that helps too. As the state grows in population we will eventually have more clout, but for right now it is good to be laying in the political limelight just a little.
Americans often complain about the fact they have no say in their government. At times I have a hard time disagreeing with them, even though I know we should keep the faith about democracy. This year is at least a little different; in a close primary votes will count and it could make a difference.
So pack yourself to your nearest polling station, and vote next Tuesday. What you say will count.
And you will be able to tell your grandkids that you were there in the pivitol primary election of 2008.
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