Dan Liljenquist’s failed tax hike!
by Daryl AcumenThis article illustrates the idiocy of one of the few votes Dan Liljenquist could be bothered to make in his short stint with the Utah Legislature - a sin tax increase on cigarettes. The fact that he bothered to show up for this vote means he thought it was important. The fact that he got it ...
Continue ReadingJune 15th Hatch/Liljenquist debate transcript
by Daryl AcumenDoug Wright: A warm welcome to the Doug Wright show today. Special hour today — we have blown out all the commercials. We have cleared the decks because today is the day for the debate between Dan Liljenquist and Orrin Hatch. I greatly appreciate both of our guests clearing their schedules and making their time ...
Continue ReadingIt’s *crickets* in the Senate race
by Daryl Acumen"Maybe it’s because we’re in the middle of June and people aren’t thinking much about the election. It just seems that there’s not much going on right now. And a boring race helps Orrin Hatch. If things were more exciting, that would mean either trouble for Hatch or momentum for Liljenquist." - Bryan Schott This is ...
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Manufactured debate ‘controversy’ illustrates Liljenquist campaign’s desperation
by Daryl AcumenThe recently manufactured 'controversy' regarding Orrin Hatch's purported hesitancy to debate Dan Liljenquist again before the June 26th primary is a clear sign of desperation. In spite of the fact that Hatch has debated Liljenquist twice in the last month and the fact that Hatch campaign manager Dave Hansen indicated that more debates are likely, ...
Continue ReadingDan Liljenquist & FreedomWorks – birds of a feather…
by Daryl AcumenA few observations about the relationship between FreedomWorks and Dan Liljenquist: - In June 2011, as conservatives across the country geared up for the election a year and half away to oust President Barack Obama and his liberal allies from the U.S. Senate, Washington, DC-based FreedomWorks announced a costly campign to try and defeat conservative Republican ...
Continue ReadingHow conservative is Dan Liljenquist really?
by Daryl AcumenI'm continuing to do my research on the short legislative record of State Senator Dan Liljenquist. I've been curious as to why FreedomWorks took so long to endorse Liljenquist and why some folks at the UTGOP Convention referred to him as a "liberal." I'm of course aware that Dan's record with the Utah Taxpayer's Association ...
Continue ReadingWho supports FreedomWorks?
by Daryl AcumenFreedomWorks has said recently that they intend to double-down on the Utah Senate race in spite of exceptionally weak local support for their efforts. I thought it would be fun to quantify how weak local support for FreedomWorks really is. Tracking total Utah individual contributions as a proxy for in-state sentiment, I pulled some rough numbers from the ...
Continue ReadingFreedomWorks wants an apology…seriously?
by Daryl AcumenLast month this blog broke a story about FreedomWorks attempts to manipulate Utah's caucuses with mailers that encouraged supporters to break party rules in order to gain an advantage at local precinct meetings. I was outraged enough to call freedom Works in Washington, DC and to demand an apology from Matt Kibbe. Instead of an apology, ...
Continue ReadingCandidate Notes: Sarah Nitta LD27
by Daryl AcumenOverview Sarah is a successful professional fundraiser and grassroots organizer. She sits on several boards including the President’s Leadership Council at BYU-Hawaii and The Academy for Creating Enterprise. She mentors merging small business owners around the world to help them start new and successful businesses. As a mother of 4 children in the public schools she ...
Continue ReadingLiljenquist Campaign Focus Group Update
by Daryl AcumenLast week I had the pleasure of speaking directly with the political consultant who moderated the Liljenquist focus group. I asked him to send me an email with his side of the story, but I'm so busy right now I haven't had time to digest and re-write it in my own words. To void any further delay ...
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