Thoughts on 3rd Congressional District Debate, 2017

A view along the Grotto Trail.

On October 13th, there was a debate between some of the candidates for the 3rd congressional district seat. I have been consistently disappointed with all of the candidates for this seat, so it was a bit of a painful debate to listen to. There is one write-in candidate I can't find much information on, but I tend to err on the side of not voting/endorsing when I don't have information to grab ahold of.

The debate saw Kathie Allen selling socialist philosophy to Utah's heartstrings. Jim Bennett was highlighting the problems with the two-party system in order to sell his brand of statist big-government politics. John Curtis is the obvious winner of this election, so the debate will make little difference to him so long as he can avoid looking devastatingly incompetent. To that end, he did a pretty good job of not being disagreeable, which made it hard for his opponents to gang up on him.

Unfortunately, the debate has another side as well. Kathie Allen and Jim Bennett have a certain advantage in that they know that they will lose, so the debate was a platform they could fully leverage to press their ideological views on the people of Utah. This is what they did, and it was a bit sad to watch John Curtis wilt and bend to the ideological wind. As with his removal of ads supporting Trump's border wall, John Curtis did not show much strength or resolve.

From gun control, to health care, to the Department of Education, this debate featured very little concern with the Constitution. I was pleased though, with the discussion regarding the antiquities act. The idea that we need more checks on the President's power, rather than a cookie-cutter legislative redefinition, is an idea that appears to have merit. Siding with Jim Bennett and casting the issue in that light was a good move by John Curtis.

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