Despite the dire financial circumstances that most of the fifty states find themselves in, there is at least one Republican presidential candidate who would like to see Utah recklessly spend money like a sailor on leave. That’s right, Mitt Romney wants the state of Utah to spend anywhere from $2.5 million to $3 million to move its presidential primary from June 26, 2012 to a date earlier in the spring. The reason for this move would be to benefit Romney’s candidacy for President and give him an early win from which to build momentum. It’s a crass political move and former Governor Mitt Romney should know better than to raid the precious resources of a state government in the name of personal ambition.
Mitt Romney’s Utah advisers are working to try to get the state’s Republican presidential primary moved up, from late June to earlier in the spring where it might play a bigger role in the nomination process.
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However, it could also end up costing taxpayers between $2.5 million and $3 million to stage the primary.
Right now, the Utah Republican Party is planning to hold its presidential primary on June 26, 2012, the same day as the statewide primary election for other Utah offices.
There are a couple of problems with this strategy. The first issue arises with Romney’s belief in the good polling numbers he’s received so far. As our readers know, we at the Northwest Progressive Institute strongly believe that the only poll that matters is the one on Election Day. True, Mitt Romney has strong poll numbers in Utah, and even polls ahead of the state’s former Governor Jon Huntsman, but there is no guarantee that those poll numbers will translate into a win for Romney in the primary.
The other problem is that Mitt Romney is a candidate whose own website lists “fiscal responsibility” as one of his top issues. While we won’t link to the Romney campaign website so as not to drive traffic there, here is what the website says:
The mission to restore America begins with getting our fiscal house in order. President Obama has put our nation on an unsustainable course. Spending is out of control. Yearly deficits are massive. And unless we curb Washington’s appetite for spending, the national debt will grow to the size of our entire economy this year.
So how about that fiscal responsibility thing? Pressuring Utah to hold its primary earlier while spending $2.5 to $3 million to benefit his presidential campaign, when those funds could be spent on health care, education or other vital services that benefit the people of Utah isn’t even close to being fiscally responsible. It’s a blatant, selfish act in the name of political expediency; an obscene campaign contribution drawn from the commonwealth of the people of Utah.
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