Mormons aren’t libertarians. But Gary Johnson has as good a shot at winning Utah as any state, other than Alaska. Because Mormons are constitutionalists. I’m not sure if it’s church dogma, but many conservative Mormons believe every word written in the Constitution was divinely inspired.
Johnson can win Utah running on the Constitution, federalism, state sovereignty, and putting the federal government in its place. In Utah, specifically, that means running on the Transfer of Public Lands (TPL) from the feds to the states, and the people. 65% of Utah is owned by the federal government, and they want their land. Obama is on the verge of locking up millions of acres of southeastern Utah on a new National Monument called Bears Ears. Gary Johnson should go there and announce his intention, as President, to sign legislation authorizing the transfer of Bears Ears from federal to state ownership.
Johnson should also become ardent proponent of Article V. If he doesn’t, he’s really not much of a constitutionalist. He should make TPL and Article V two of his top campaign talking points. If he’s a good politician he won’t allow himself to be distracted by issues which are irrelevant to the duties of a President.
Take abortion. Please. If Johnson is a constitutionalist, he knows Roe v. Wade was one of the worst decisions in our history. He should pledge to appoint Justices who are strict constructionists, using Clarence Thomas as a model. If you’re a strict constructionist, you vote to overturn Roe V. Wade. At which point, abortion laws are out of the President’s responsibilities. If Utah wants to ban abortions, they can do it. In California it would be abortion on demand. It’s called federalism. It’s the essence of the Constitution. The same goes for gay marriage, LGBT issues, and all the rest. It’s not the President’s, or the federal government’s, job to deal with all this. It’s done by the States. The same with prostitution, marijuana, and all the rest. Johnson should refuse to discuss the merits of any of these arguments. He’s running for President, not moralist in chief.
Red State reports a Gravis poll of Utah with Trump 29, Other 29, Clinton 26, and Johnson 16. If he could pick up just half of the Other vote he’d be in the lead. TPL alone would do it.
The glory of nature is its diversity. The Gold Country where I live is not a particularly rich ecosystem. We’re semi-arid. But, especially in the spring, every walk in the woods, if you look close enough, reveals a little something new. Every species, plant and animal, has a survival strategy, and a lifespan. Every flower is like a woman displaying her beauty, hoping for fertilization and new life. Most of them are gone now, but their seeds are dispersed throughout the valley. They’ll sprout with the winter rain, and the cycle begins again.
One of the great glories of this country is its diversity. Mormons are a subculture, but there are many others, all over the country. San Francisco is a subculture, as is New York. We’re all different. I’m an Alaskan Californian. The only way we can all get along is to tolerate each other, and not get into each other’s face. Federalism fosters this, and at least as I understand it, so does libertarianism. Talking about this could win Utah for the Libertarian ticket. He doesn’t want to tell the people of Utah how to run their lives. And he doesn’t expect Utah to tell anybody else how to run theirs. If you know anything about the history of Utah, and the Mormon Church, you’d understand the appeal of this line of argument.
Trump won’t apologize for calling out that Mexican judge from Indiana. He can’t. He can never apologize. A strongman never apologizes. It’s a sign of weakness. One of John Wayne’s biographers claims that the Duke’s dad told him three things. Don’t lie, don’t quit, and don’t apologize. Trump just forgot the first one.
Isn’t it odd that all the hoopla about Trump U. didn’t come public until after Trump had the nomination?
No, it’s not odd at all.
reaganproject.com 