Unbelievable news from Utah. Not so rare in other states, but here in Utah, this is truly historic. Just got wind of a press release from Morgan Bowen, Democratic candidate for Utah’s 1st District currently held by Republican Rob Bishop taking a stand again the FISA bill, and retro-active immunity.
For those who aren’t familiar with Utah’s political landscape, it is the land of Blue Dog Jim Matheson – who of course supports retro-active immunity. Matheson traditionally calls the shots in the state, often leveraging his position as the only Democrat in the state’s federal delegation to squash real leadership against the Blue Dog agendas. Morgan has already been more than responsive to bloggers and grassroots activists, allowing a level of access for both in his campaign, as well as the Utah for Obama staff and their voter registration efforts that is unprecedented in this state (and many of us have been fighting for such things for decades!). And now he takes a very definite stance on the FISA bill, despite the backlash he can expect for doing so.
This is leadership. Finally!
Please show Morgan some love.
to my list of Future races. (See my signature for the link.)
That’s not unbelievable at all. When you have no chance of winning the election you can afford to take unpopular stances in your district.
Matheson doesn’t have that luxury. He actually does have to worry about getting re-elected. Do I like his stance on the issue? Hell no. But we’re talking about a democrat in Utah. I’d like to actually keep him in office for the forseeable future.