Reflections on a Campaign

This campaign season I worked on Tim Aalders campaign to become the Republican nominee for the U.S Senate. Many of you will know that Tim did not make it through convention and finished 4th on the 1st ballot at convention with about 2% of the delegate’s votes. So was the time spent on my part worth it? If success is measured solely by the votes Tim received the answer would clearly be no. However, let me review with you some of what I experienced as a result of helping and then let me answer the question.

I got to meet and spend time with a number of truly wonderful people whom I otherwise would not have gotten to know:

• Tim’s campaign staff: Dwayne Vance and Tony Bean, Jacques Jonasaint,  …
• Other candidates: Chris Herrod, David Kirkham, Ken Sumsion, Jeremy Friedbaum, Dale Ash, Carl Wimmer, Mia Love ...
• Members of political groups: Michele Le Mmon (Davis County 9/12), Darcy Van Orden (I got to bash with her for 4 hrs driving from Highland to Vernal and back – poor Annette Penrod she tried to be the moderator when things hot got a bit heated – I must say that I had a blast), Frank Anderson (iCaucus co-founder), Kirk Pearson (Utah Constitution Party).
• Members of other organizations: Timothy Johnson (founder of The Frederick Douglass Foundation who spent the weekend in our home), Mike Presnell (Head of SW Border Sheriffs and Border Narcotics Intelligence), Curtis Grecco (The Imperfect Messenger Foundation), Gary Foreman (1776 Principles)
• Apologies to those I left off … there were a lot.

Unlike other campaigns I’ve been involved with there was no dissention amongst Tim’s team members. Pretty amazing actually. Campaigns are filled with people that have strong opinions and although everyone wants the same thing (our candidate to win) there are inevitably clashes when people don’t agree on the details. In our case this didn’t happen for some reason.

We had a number of people volunteer and provide help to the campaign without thought of remuneration (Brian Parrish, Gary Foreman, Jerry and Helen Berrett, members of The Colonial Heritage Foundation – Greg and Katherine Hardy …). Also, my lovely wife took on the job of organizing our convention booth and did a remarkable job with very little money - thank you!

In the end, while we got only 2% of the vote, Tim’s endorsement of Dan Liljenquist at convention was likely the difference between Hatch winning outright and going to a primary with Dan, as is now the case.

So was my time well spent? My response is a resounding YES!

PS: I would encourage anyone to get involved. Find a candidate you believe in and then support them however you can. You will get more out of it than you put in. Remember though, don’t take things too personal. There are other good candidates out there and yours might not win. Don’t hesitate to support another good one if yours doesn’t make it. In my case I am now 100% behind Dan Liljenquist.