The United Utah Party Practices Americanism

   I enjoyed the experience of manning booths at Draper Days and the Salt Lake County Fair. It was opportunity to discuss what I like about the United Utah Party with people. I do not know what it will become, but early indications are it values civility and allowing people to think for themselves. It does have some political stands, but does not dictate its positions heavy-handedly. 
   There are times, when to run as a candidate, you have to sign a statement saying your political positions will fall in line with what the party believes. I cannot understand that. To me, the model for having an opinion in America is not one in which the party dictates the beliefs, and you are forced to sign on. Rather than having a party subscribe to me what I should believe, I like a party that will let me come to my own conclusions. I also like it that the United Utah Party will be less inclined to nominate just one candidate in conventions. You only need to win 20 percent of the delegates in convention to be placed on the primary ballot. Thus, we are passing along the decision to the people, who are the ones who should be making the decision. The idea that we would encourage a system where only one person's name appears on the ballot has always bothered me. That isn't democracy, to me.

   To sum it up, When it becomes that the party is selecting the candidate, and forcing its choice on the people, that is not democracy. And, when the party is dictating what the people should believe, and what their positions should be, that, too, is not democracy.

   I'm grateful that there might now be a party that is more in line with what I think America is all about.