Vetting criteria

I believe in the caucus system here in Utah.  Therefore, I prefer Convention Candidate over a Signature Candidate.  

What's the difference?  Simply put, Signature Candidates buy their way onto the Primary ballot without the scrutiny of State Delegates elected at the neighborhood caucuses.  

Now you know how some of our elected officials don't share our values  -- they bypassed you and me! Makes you wonder why they want to be in office so bad if it's not to represent you and me...

The caucus system has been under attack for the last 11 years by millionaires who desire to control election outcomes more easily with money, rather than substance. In 2014, Count My Vote threatened the legislature and made a deal to pass Senate Bill 54 (SB54), which forced the signature path into the Utah GOP nominating system. Many constitutional experts have determined SB54 to be unconstitutional–a violation of the First Amendment right of freedom of association. 

As one State party leader described it: "The legislation has damaged our election process and created a multimillion-dollar money-to-ballot circus." 

In general, the candidates say the same things about all of the big issues.  That makes this criteria very difficult.  I've learned you have to pay attention the the words a candidate uses or refuses to use (say that fast 10 times).

For example, some candidates sound very compatible with our views on the border, national debt, inflation, and other big issues.  However, the purposely, and sometimes go way out of their way, to avoid terms like "America First" or "Patriot".  These candidates are afraid to be associated with former President Trump.  And that's OK, but it's not what we need right now.

Like it or not, the Republican Presidential Candidate in all likelihood will be Donald Trump.  In my mind, we've got to make sure we send representation that isn't afraid to work with him, should he win the election.  That's why I'm reluctant to support candidates who may waffle when it comes time to stand up and support the America First agenda.  It will lead to more gridlock, and quite possibly more of the same loathsome policies we're seeing now.

I pay close attention to the Candidate biographies since they let us know what kind of person they are outside of the current issues.  That's why I've included them on this site so you can get a feel for them too.

Maybe it's my smalltown upbringing, but, all else being equal, I'll pick the candidate who was born and raised in small town over the one who wasn't. We know they can relate to us smalltown Honeyville residents.  

I strongly feel that people from small towns have a better grasp of what it means to work hard every day for what you have, not to mention small town values.  

Every quiz show emcee tells the stressed-out recipient of a trivia question to "trust your gut".   I think we've all experienced times when we've trusted our instincts about someone and were subsequently proven right.

So, I tend to listen to my gut feelings about the candidates as I read about them and listen to them answer questions.  I also watch how they go about campaigning to feed into what my gut says.

Even the Drive-By Voter is influenced at least partially by their Instinct. That's a good thing.   Sometimes you just have a feeling, and most of the time you're better off going with it.