This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Republican Party has been taken over by the tea party, a schizophrenic populist movement that praises the Constitution yet detests the government it defines. Mia Love is a tea party candidate forced to endorse ridiculous gun laws, reject a living wage, accept toxic air, destroy Obamacare and viciously attack the president, or be replaced by a well-funded alternative in the next election.
She must protect the rich and stiff the poor, enshrining a godless Randism that praises the ego-maniacal individual while dismissing any need for community. Love would be another Norquist-tea party robot hyping greed, guns, and government shutdown.
Her opponent, Doug Owens, puts Utah first, a cool, clear-headed moderate who is free to compromise and strive to resolve each issue on its merits.
Any enlightened Utahn would love to have a black female representative, but never tea party Love. She is not a responsible Bennett conservative but an angry tea party Lee who shamed his state and harmed his country.
Ron Molen
Salt Lake City