I've written a number of times about the control freaks who run the Utah County Republican Party and their efforts to make sure their clique remains in power.
Here's the latest example.
Keith Kuder is running for party secretary in Utah County to replace Susan Bramble, wife of Sen. Curtis Bramble, who is stepping down. Two other candidates for party secretary are Lisa Shepherd, who got a bit sideways with the party establishment last year when she had the audacity to challenge an incumbent legislator in the GOP convention, and Matt Thompson, the son of Utah County Auditor-Treasurer Brian Thompson and the apparent favorite of the party bosses, according to the endorsements.
So perhaps it is not a surprise that Kuder, a relative newcomer to party politics, was told in a conference call from Susan Bramble and Party Chair Marian Monnahan that he had to remove the Republican logo featuring two elephants from his electronic newsletter he was sending out to delegates. He was not a representative of the party, the officers told him he is just a candidate, so he could not use the logo. Shepherd also was told she could not use the elephant logos, although she told the brass she would only remove them on her e-mails, not on materials already printed.
Funny. Taylor Oldroyd, who is running for party chair to replace Monnahan, who also is stepping down, has the Republican logo all over his mailers without an apparent problem. Oldroyd also is the favored candidate of the establishment, based on endorsements.
The Republican logo taboo is interesting in light of the fuss made by Utah County GOP officers when Democratic candidates for public office last year chose not to put the Democratic logo on their campaign signs.
Former Senate President John Valentine, R-Provo, a leader in the Utah County GOP, was a bit dumbfounded himself when learning of the rule against the logos.
"If you're a Republican candidate for anything, you ought to be able to display the Republican logo to show who you are," he says.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
Article Link: http://blogs.sltrib.com/politics/
