In commemoration of City Weekly's 40th anniversary, we are digging into our archives to celebrate. Each week, we FLASHBACK to a story or column from our past in honor of four decades of local alt-journalism. Whether the names and issues are familiar or new, we are grateful to have this unique newspaper to contain them all.
Title: Houghin' & Puffin'
Author: Amanda Dickson
Date: July 8, 1992
Well, the Shrine Circus was in Salt Lake City last weekend, but the real circus was in Ogden—a circus of mass proportions, with a real-live elephant, courtesy of Richard Eyre; balloons by the hundreds, courtesy of everyone; a nationally-known recording star, courtesy of Cannon; food by the ton; Franklin Planners all around; and a ringmaster named Bruce Hough, the Utah State Republican Party Chairman. I asked Bruce if this was the most money ever spent at a convention in Utah. He replied in perfect politics, "I hate to even answer the question, because it's almost self-indicting, but I suspect it probably was." I suppose there's nothing wrong with spending a little money on a party. They do it all the time at the White House.
And, as is the case with most parties, some predictable, and not-so-predictable things happen. Some people show up politely late and leave politely early, and others puke in your bathroom. The predictable votes in the Republican races are boring, and you probably know about them already, or don't care if you don't. Some voted for Jim Hansen in the 1st District, and Richard Harrington in the 3rd District—stuff like that. Those boring, predictable votes do have their advantages; where candidates are concerned, they save the party the in-fighting of a primary. Chairman Hough remarks, "I don't object to primaries, in general. But, I think in the case where we have an incumbent Democratic Congressman [Bill Orton] in the 3rd District, who really has never been challenged as a candidate—he was, in essence, given the election two years ago, when the Republican party candidates self-destructed—he didn't really win that race."
He didn't? Where have I been?
Hough continues, "This is an opportunity now, after two years of really a romance with that district in the media, that we can get back to the business of demonstrating that a Republican really ought to be representing that district." Like Wilford Brimley says, "It's the right thing to do!"
But, alas, voters, and even delegates for that matter, are not known for doing the "right thing." Sometimes, we do the wild thing, the unpredictable thing. It's the stuff of headlines and Monday Night Movies of the Week are made of. Take, for instance, the 2nd Congressional District. Politically savvy people all over the state are wondering what in the hell happened to the state's outgoing Speaker of the House, Craig Moody. Most thought him a shoo-in. The Democrats took polls that convinced them to gun for him. Not! It seems that Craig Moody pulled a Dan O'Brien. Dan and his sponsor, Reebok, were focused so intently on going for the gold in Barcelona that Dan forgot to qualify for the Olympic team. With Dan, it was pole vaults; with Craig, it was poll votes. But, in any event, Craig Moody is back to selling real estate, and supporting his opponents for the job he wanted. Sometimes, politics really is a roll of the dice, even for Republicans. Instead of Moody, the candidate with the most name-recognition, the party chose Enid Green and Jim Bartleson for their primary.
And, now, we move into the stage of getting to know you, getting to know all about you.
Yes, political conventions are social occasions on a Malcolm Forbes scale. Inviting President Bush's favorite singer, Lee Greenwood, to perform his patriotic "God Bless the USA!" was a great idea, and a big hit. Hell, I even liked that part. But, then, these hyper-sensitive politicians had to spoil the mood and tell us 10 times, painstakingly, that Mr. Greenwood was not paid for his appearance. Only his expenses were provided for by Joe Cannon. After the thousands that Cannon has spent on media, and every other thing you can think of, who cares whether or not Lee sang for free? Maybe Joe Cannon should have taken the Ross Perot attitude of, "Sure, I bought Lee Greenwood for Utah Republicans, because they couldn't afford him otherwise."
Ah, yes, Ross Perot. It seems that politicians of any variety cannot gather together without his name coming up. Chairman Hough was no exception. "Ya know, there's been a lot of talk about Perot and this sort of thing. The convention was clearly behind George Bush and Dan Quayle as President and Vice President, and it was wonderful to see the outpouring and the enthusiasm that came out of that."
I'm tingling all over at the very thought of it.