Philpot vs. Matheson

In the race for Utah's second congressional district, it is interesting to hear what my friends and colleagues are saying about the two candidates; Morgan Philpot (R) and Jim Matheson (D).

Most of the feedback I have heard about Morgan Philpot is mixed. Even many republicans, while planning to vote for him, feel that Philpot doesn't seem to understand the demographics of the district. Observers draw this conclusion from watching and listening to Philpot look and sound like a candidate trying to sway voters of a younger age (i.e. He spikes his hair in the front and uses a vocabulary that you would expect to hear from a 25 year old). Philpot is struggling to rally his base in a year that he should have easily tied it down.

On the flip side, many republicans and democrats are not satisfied with the incumbent Jim Matheson. Democrats think he is too conservative, and republicans think he is too liberal. Matheson claims to be an independent, but most of the water cooler talk I hear leads me to believe that most don't buy into Matheson's self-proclaimed independent label. Upon review of his voting record, Matheson consistently votes with Nancy Pelosi, even though he touts the handful of times he broke ranks and didn't vote with his party. He continually reminds voters that he is a blue dog democrat, supposedly trying to keep the extreme liberal left of his own party in check. Furthermore, Matheson always falls back on his Southern Utah roots as a reason that he relates with the conservative, rural part of the district.

However, the fact remains that Jim Matheson is a democrat that helped bring Nancy Pelosi to power by casting his vote for her to be Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. My personal opinion is that Matheson's campaign slogan of him "putting Utah first" is a farce. He puts his own interests ahead of his constituents' interests. I would like Matheson to explain his votes for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker and with a straght face say that he believes those votes were the votes his constituents wanted him to cast. He couldn't do it without lying.

Additionally, it appears that Matheson broke ranks and voted with the republicans only on votes where Nancy Pelosi already had the votes she needed to pass the socialistic Obama agenda. If Jim Matheson was truly undecided on his vote for Obamacare until the day he cast his vote, which he claimed, that tells me all I need to know about him. He is either too stupid to understand that what his party is doing is destroying America, or he is putting his own interests ahead of his constituents. Either way, Matheson is not getting my vote.

So while many conversatives may buy into Matheson's propoganda, I hope they will come to their senses, overlook Philpot's perceived lack of credibility, and vote for the only true conservative in the race for Utah's second congressional district, Morgan Philpot.