Category Archives: Editorial Commentaries

My political sins, if you will, have been on full display for decades. Through the pages of my career’s open book, I have been anything but transcendent – although not for a lack of trying. By the time I arrived in Utah 18 years ago, I was determined to lead differently. In time, I created the Transcend Series at Sutherland Institute to help elected officials and community leaders overcome politics as usual. I often reached across the philosophical aisle in an attempt to raise civil dialogue. read more

Mitt Romney’s stated desire to kick Dreamer kids out of the country is disconcerting and disappointing — and a policy that is Trumpian, not conservative.

For a man who once excoriated Donald Trump for being “very very not smart,” Mitt is very very not smart about immigration policy generally and how Utahns view undocumented immigrants specifically.

I cannot look the other way any more. As a voice for thoughtful conservatism in Utah, I now revoke his pass.

Salt Lake Tribune

The Utah Compact was the work of many to express the heart of how we feel about strangers in our midst. It certifiably established Utah as a welcoming state.

As a part of that transcendent moment, I have since wondered why that same spirit could not impact other public policies. For instance, is it possible to recreate the Utah Compact for poverty-related issues? What are our commensurate values regarding the poor? Are there values upon which conservatives and liberals (and everyone in between) can agree? And, if we were able to identify those values, would Utah policymakers find the courage to ensure that poverty policies match those values? read more

For people living in a state claiming the largest middle class and the lowest income inequality in the nation, Utahns unsurprisingly understand a great deal about their neighbors in need. In a recent survey conducted for the Next Generation Freedom Fund (NGFF) by Heart+Mind Strategies and ORC International, over a quarter (27 percent) of Utahns have heard of intergenerational poverty (high for a relatively obscure issue) and can aptly describe it. Furthermore, Utahns seem to have an intuitive feel for why intergenerational poverty is different from situational poverty. read more

Steve Bannon is an enemy of Utah. His Know-Nothing political philosophy is antithetical to the mainstream of Utah politics as are his apocalyptic strategies, scorched earth tactics and oddball coalitions. For Bannon to presume he would have any significant impact in Utah, outside of the some of the crazies inside the state GOP, is both arrogant and delusional. That is, unless unexpected opportunity knocks on his door and welcomes him in.

Salt Lake Tribune

Utahns know what our culture looks like when we match our values to our public policies, especially on highly contentious issues. We saw this “alignment effect” when the state debated immigration policy a few years ago. Once we aligned our commensurate values with our legal and legislative behaviors toward undocumented immigrants, contention dissipated and marginalized communities were more welcomed. Many social barriers were overcome. People began to work together constructively and productively, united behind the desire to share opportunity, peace and prosperity. read more

For most of my political career I have been a right-wing Republican. On a shelf in my home office is a nearly 40-year-old framed cartoon from Malcolm “Mal” Hancock of two amorphous people, one saying to the other, “The way I figure it, I’m somewhere right of ultra-right wing.” My right-wing pedigree is long, distinguished and impeccable. Only Utah GOP politics could make me question that pedigree. Today, next to the Mal cartoon, on my office shelf sits another cartoon showing an older couple watching Hannity, Limbaugh and Coulter ranting and raving on television and the man lamenting, “I miss William F. Buckley.” read more

A lifelong registered Republican, I registered as unaffiliated earlier this year. The Utah GOP’s support for Donald Trump was more than I could take, and that is saying a lot after putting up for years with the crazy inside the Utah GOP. And, as a studied conservative, I have tried to put my finger on a precise summary of this crazy afflicting the Utah GOP and what, if anything, to do about it.

For many years, I blamed the party’s undercurrent of libertarianism pushing the Utah GOP to extremes. In great detail, through writing and speech, I have warned Utahns against the libertarian apostasy from true freedom. And, though an impractical philosophy, libertarianism is not the problem. read more

Of course, I do not speak for Sutherland Institute, but my 14 years there give me some authority with which to respond to ABU. Rather than chastise Sutherland, ABU should follow its example. After all, ABU is neither an effective public policy group nor public relations machine. It could learn a thing or two from a successful organization.

Like ABU, Sutherland started small and was experiencing trouble finding its influence in Utah. We did a few things to change all of that in my first three years. First, we became more relevant and less ideological. Second, we fired the entire staff and turned over the Board of Trustees. Third, by January of 2004, we reinvented ourselves. And, fourth, we fearlessly engaged every issue with honesty and transparency (there is nothing to fear when you are right). Sutherland went from nothing to a respected and highly influential organization. read more

Editor’s note: This article from commentator Paul Mero is a response to Taylor G. Petrey’s recent piece “The failures of Mormon conservativism.” These opinion articles are part of an ongoing Deseret News opinion series exploring ideas and issues at the intersection of faith and thought.

Taylor G. Petrey is a progressive provocateur who dares tell Latter-day Saints what to believe about politics, sex and gender. Petrey tempts members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to think that it’s time for “a revitalization of Mormonism’s past and potential.” read more