Letter: Utah GOP leaders should find good o..

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I am a conservative voter and lifelong Republican, I've served as both a state and county Republican delegate, and I strongly feel that our party has, through the years generally fielded a slate of viable, competent statesmen, especially for national Senate and House seats.

A statesman gets things done. He/she cooperates with those of a different view and gets results, endeavoring to arrive at a solution most can support. An idealogue makes issues personal, refusing compromise, and sticking to unattainable positions, scoring "moral victories" that are really losses.

Our junior senator, Mike Lee, has shocked and offended the mainstream of this state since his election. With no regard for federal employees, the poor, and the economy, he helped foist the disgraceful shutdown on America, and then voted against the compromise solution.

This individual is one of the reasons for the Count my Vote initiative, and is too self-absorbed to realize the fact that he is unfavorably regarded by a majority of Utah voters.

I encourage John Valentine, Mike Leavitt, Greg Bell and other reasonable leaders to help find a suitable opponent to run against "that angry guy from Utah" in the future.

David F. Gunn

Provo

Letter: Utah GOP leaders should find good opponent to Lee