Jeff Merchant misses the point.
The point is: Democrats need to win races and legislative seats to be relevant. But you can’t win seats without appealing to voters and the Democratic Party has been unable to strategically message, organize or convince voters to support Democrats either up or down the ballot resulting in a net legislative seat loss.
You can talk about math or try to persuade democrats they were right not to have a Senate candidate this cycle, but without a winning strategy Democrats are doomed to remain at 30%. Here in Utah, no democratic leader, in recent years, has been able to develop and implement a winning strategy.
The trifecta in our Legislature allows the controlling party to gerrymander keeping the Republican machine emboldened. And, so far, the “out of box” blueprint strategy of an independent candidate resulted in continued party polarization and not a rallying unity.
Without strong party leadership, a unifying message, solid candidates up and down the ballot promoting that same message, and a winning strategy, how will Utah Democrats keep Utah Republicans “on their toes”?
As daunting as it seems, Democrats can craft a platform that appeals to a broader base of voters. It is up to delegates to elect party leaders who have a long term unifying strategic vision for the party designed to resonate with Utah voters and their values.
Catherine Voutaz, Herriman
