Gov. Herbert Fires Back At Peter Corroon Over Campaign Ads

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As we here in Utah inch closer to the November mid-terms, the race for governor is heating up in a very real way. As some may know from previous posts here on RandomBrainwork.net, I try to stay close to the issues facing Utah, even to the extent of becoming a Republican county delegate. It has afforded more convenient forums to mingle with some candidates, and I’ve enjoyed it. If you’ve paid any attention to the news, or subscribe to the state party’s email newsletter, you may have read the letter that Gov. Herbert Sent to Mayor Corroon c

oncerning Corroon’s negative campaign ads. Here is the letter in full:

September 16, 2010

Dear Mayor Corroon:

This is a formal request that you repudiate the false and salacious 55-page document your

campaign produced, which you entitled “Gary Herbert: Governor for $ale,” and made claims that

Utah companies and community leaders received preferential treatment from state government in

exchange for contributions to my campaign.

Let me be perfectly clear: there is no basis of truth to the allegations you have made. I take my

oath of office very seriously. I have spent a lifetime building a reputation of integrity. I have

spent over 20 years in public service, representing both my county and the state. I will not sit idly

by while you drag through the dirt the reputations of Utah businesses and their leaders who are

creating jobs for Utahns, and doing so much more to improve our state’s quality of life. I will not

tolerate your denigration of honest and dedicated Utah public employees—including those in the

Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

You have, on at least two occasions, publicly pledged to run a “clean campaign” based solely on

the issues and free of personal attacks. Your campaign has taken a 180-degree turn from that

pledge. Polls and politics are no excuse for negative campaigns that attack personal character.

You create a perception that Utah allows a system of “pay for play.” That, Mayor Corroon, is not

only absolutely false—you know it is false! It creates skepticism amongst our citizenry and doubt

in the minds of anyone outside of Utah who observes the culture and dynamics of our

community. In a very real sense you, Mayor Corroon, have also tarnished the very good name of

Utah—and I will not let your allegations go unchallenged.

As the mayor of one of Utah’s largest communities, you have a platform, a profile and a

responsibility that few other leaders enjoy. Through the eyes of many, including those outside of

Utah, how they view Utah is determined, at least in part, by how they view our state’s leaders

and government—which includes both you and me and thousands of others. The impression you

promote when you allege that Utah’s system—our governor, our business leaders, and our state

government employees and volunteers—are corrupt, affect the state’s reputation.

You have done a great disservice to me, to each of the 16 businesses and community leaders you

cited in your report, and to the reputation of our great state. I ask you to acknowledge your

mistake. I had hoped that we could have a constructive debate on the issues and challenges

facing Utah. That is my commitment—it should also be yours. The public deserves no less.

Attacking the integrity of others and then justifying it as a call for “meaningful ethics reform” is

simply a sham and it has no place in this election.

Sincerely,

Gary R. Herbert

Governor

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Right now I tend to favor Herbert. It seems to me that even if Corroon’s allegations have any truth in them, Herbert wouldn’t have a whole lot to do with how they happened in the first place, as governor. Another reason to question the motives of Corroon is to note that Corroon pledged to run a positive campaign a number of months ago – as I recall when Corroon chose his running mate – and has not kept that promise. In my mind that does not bode well for a man who aspires to a governorship.

And my last point, which is essentially throwing a bone to the the Democrats behind Corroon, is that Howard Dean is his first cousin.Peter Corroon is an elitist, ruling class type of politician. He see’s it as his duty by birth to be in the high up places of government, plain and simple. I know that I’ll be catching flak for this statement, but all I have to say is bring it on. You know that Dean and Corroon have the same opinion about a number of issues. Dean has been in the news recently talking about none other than the midterm elections. His statements have ranged from declaring that the Left with retain a majority in congress and saying that healthcare is a non-issue in the election. 1) Take a look at the recent Republican primaries and you’ll see that the so-called Tea Party candidates won decisively many times over, and 2) If you recall, cap & trade and healthcare reform sparked the Tea Party movement in the first place. The vast majority of those who see eye to eye with the Tea Party haven’t forgotten about this issue.

A lot of you who are following the both campaigns closely have no doubt been troubled by what has gone on between the contractors who were bidding for a now underway highway construction contract and the state. It seems that the contractor who won originally was not in the running according to a state scoring system for choosing contracts, but after somehow fudging some numbers the state came back and gave the bid to a company who was somehow not in the running before. So after some sort of internal hoopla, the state paid out a $13 million dollar settlement while the company who won has contributed rather generously to Herbert’s campaign. Many are crying foul play, foremost among them being Corroon. But if you paid close attention, you would know that this was all handled by the UDOT, not the governor’s office. The state legislature didn’t even know what had happened until the UDOT chief reported this expenditure earlier this week. You can’t pin this on the governor and say he was playing favorites.

Related articles

• Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 9/16/10 (dailykos.com)
• Polling and Political Wrap, 9/15/10 (dailykos.com)
• Utah paid $13 million to settle bid dispute in Utah County road project (KSL.com)
• Corroon turns up heat on Herbert over campaign contributions (KSL.com)

~ by Daniel Crowder on September 17, 2010.