Some rise and some drown in GOP tide

By Bob Bernick Jr.
Deseret Morning News
Published: Friday, May 14, 2004 5:24 p.m. MDT
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Ask 10 different people to analyze what happened in last Saturday's state GOP convention and you'll get 10 different answers.

But one way to look at the multifaceted dynamics of the 3,500-delegate convention, with a preferential ballot that confused intentions as well, is to compare it to an inexorable part of nature: The tide rolled in Saturday in the South Towne Expo Center, raising some candidates while drowning others.

And Nolan Karras was the great beneficiary of the moon's gravitational pull.

"About a week out we saw signs of trouble," says Dave Hansen, Fred Lampropoulos' campaign manager.

Lampropoulos, despite spending $2 million of his own money, finished third in the June 22 GOP primary that will match Karras with Jon Huntsman Jr.

Huntsman and Lampropoulos were considered one and two in the delegate count several weeks ago.

"I thought there might be a wave, someone moving up. In part, that was because so many (of the other eight candidates) seemed stuck. No one was moving," says Hansen.

While Lampropoulos had talked openly about his personal life, his three divorces and fourth marriage last fall, Hansen said when the "whispering about Fred" started several weeks ago, it moved more quickly and more intensely than expected.

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In his convention speech, Lampropoulos said he likened himself to Ronald Reagan, "a divorced, conservative actor who became a good president." The word "divorce" was not in the first draft of the speech, said Hansen. "We added that" because they felt they needed to publicly address the issue that was running through delegate ranks.

Meanwhile, GOP Gov. Olene Walker's campaign was struggling, actively opposed by several conservative groups, including the school-choice supporters.

Said Hansen: "Karras was becoming to the delegates the safe choice. You don't want Olene? You don't know Huntsman? You don't like what you're hearing about Fred? What about Nolan?" Picking current GOP vice chairwoman Enid Greene, a former U.S. House member, as his running mate also helped Karras, all agree.

Karras got another big boost the morning of the convention when the Utah Education Association caucus, between 180 and 300 delegates strong, depending on how you count them, decided only to vote Walker first and Karras second on the ballot, no one else listed.

"I think it made a difference" for Karras, said Susan Kuziak, UEA executive director. "I think that if we had put Fred second" on those teacher-delegate ballots "he would have come out."

UEA can't take all the credit, however. GOP vote-counters say Karras knocked out Lampropoulos by 273 votes in the sixth round of ballot-counting, likely more than the teacher union could muster.

(This leads to another question: Will GOP bosses want to stick with the preferential ballot system if there's a possibility that a group like the UEA can, by bloc voting, affect convention results in a major race?)

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