Breakfast with Alder, Sumsion, Herrod, and Kirkham

I went to Denny's this morning to have breakfast with the candidates listed above. I missed Alder's presentation and, although I have talked with him briefly at another event, I haven't heard anything that would sway me toward considering him as a viable candidate, so I will move on.

I was happy to get a chance to hear from Ken Sumsion, but I was disappointed that he spent all of his 15 minute presentation on the Utah Land's issue. I am not opposed to this issue and I am happy to hear that there are many candidates in this race that feel strongly about getting more access to public lands in Utah, but I feel that a governor can not afford to be a one issue leader. I have yet to feel that any of the candidates running for governor truly have a vision for Utah and unfortunately that didn't change when I listened to Ken. I haven't heard from Governor Herbert and yet, he is still winning in my mind. Not because I am so confident about how well he has managed the state, but because no one else in the race is convincing enough to persuade me to not vote for him.

I have heard from Herrod several times, so this speech was familiar to me. He lived in the Soviet Union, he has seen the iron curtain, his wife bares the scars of socialized medicine, Barack Obama is very bad. Herrod does say a lot of things that make sense, but as I mentioned before, he isn't compelling. He hasn't convinced me that he could make any changes at the federal level, but I have said that before.

Kirkham. Wow. I am not sure how to start. This was my first interaction with this guy although I did receive a giant poster in the mail of a car he built in his factory. Is this a governor's race or an advertising campaign? He kept saying "I can get the job done," but I wasn't sure he had any clue what the job was. The most convincing thing he explained, was why Philpot is too inexperienced to serve as governor. I haven't hear from Philpot yet, so I will wait to make a judgement about that.

The most impressive guy at breakfast was an old man who wants Gary Herbert to learn to ride a motorcycle so that he can be out in front at the next parade. He commented on Herbert's successes although he leads from behind rather than from the front. I would have liked to have spent more time hearing from this guy rather than most of what I heard from the candidates. On my way out, I let him know he had my vote if he ever wanted to run for office. He seemed pleased as he walked away in suit pants and cowboy boots. My kind of guy.

I am planning to attend the governor's debate tomorrow and hope to have more information to solidify my opinion on this race. Please let me know your comments on any of the races I mentioned here.