In a recent Public Forum letter, Marci Esparza writes that The Salt Lake Tribune was Utah’s conservative voice. In my opinion, The Tribune, which I have been reading since the 1970s, has never been Utah’s conservative voice. To me, The Salt Lake Tribune has always been the alternative voice, with both sides being represented (maybe leaning a bit left of center).
Esparza writes that Utah will never be blue.
Utah didn’t start becoming a total red state until the 1980s. In the 1970s Utah had a somewhat balanced Legislature. It had Democratic governors and Democrats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. That was when people actually voted for integrity in a candidate and not just the party. Many Latter-day Saints even voted for Democrats, and I believe that even today, most people in Utah are in the middle, leaning left on some issues and right on others.
So it’s not inconceivable that Utah could be balanced again.
Rawn Swallow, Salt Lake City
