For Immediate Release: Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Boehner Brings Incivility To Utah Politics & Love Campaign
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The Alliance for a Better UTAH was formed in an attempt to raise the level of civil political discourse about issues important to Utahns. We hope to engage ordinary citizens, candidates and elected officials in this discourse.
With that in mind, Executive Director Maryann Martindale had this to say today:
“We are disappointed to see 4th Congressional District candidate Mia Love relying on House Speaker John Boehner as a fundraising surrogate this week in Utah. Boehner, along with Newt Gingrich, was a key architect of the 1994 Contract for America and the ensuing call on freshman Republican Congressmen to avoid any direct contact and discussion with their Democratic counterparts. One could easily see that moment as the conversion from statesman debate to the highly charged, uncivil political rhetoric that we see today.”
No matter what our personal political leanings are, Utahns place a high premium on civility and a willingness to work together to solve the problems we face as a society, a state, and as a country.
Boehner is one of a long list of high-profile GOP insiders helping Love. Prior and planned visitors include candidate for Vice President Paul Ryan, Condoleezza Rice, John McCain and others. This is an impressive list of surrogates making the pitch for Love’s candidacy but stand in stark contrast to Love’s claim of independence and self-identification as an “outsider” to Washington’s “insiders”.
“The Alliance for a Better UTAH commends former Presidents’ Clinton and Bush for their joint call while here in Utah for civility and we hope that the Love campaign will engage in substantive, civil debate about the issues that matter most to Utahns, avoiding the uncivil rhetoric that is associated with Love’s surrogates like Boehner.”