The praise and sorrow at the death of Salt Lake County Councilman Sam Granato is suitably effusive, from both sides of the political aisle. The businessman, philanthropist and politician - in the best sense of the word - will clearly be missed by his many friends - and more than a few of his rivals.
• Sam Granato brought together people — Catholics and Mormons, Republicans and Democrats — for decades — Paul Rolly | The Salt Lake Tribune
I didn’t even know Granato. A hazard of being an ivory-tower editorial writer. But I’ve still got a great story.
In 2013, when Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz were shutting down the government over some fit of pique, the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle did something that editorial writers almost never do. They took back an endorsement.
• Why we miss Kay Bailey Hutchison | Houston Chronicle Editorial, Oct. 16, 2013
... When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November’s general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation - that he follow Hutchison’s example in his conduct as a senator. Obviously, he has not done so. Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution....
Hey, we thought, good idea! Let’s take back our endorsement of Mike Lee! We did endorse him. Didn’t we?
Nope.
Apparently we had forgotten that the people who ran the editorial page in 2010 managed to convince the then-publisher that, despite the state’s predilection for electing Republicans, and the boss’ feeling that we ought to go with the flow most of the time, Lee was just over the edge.
So who did we pick? (For all the good it did. Lee still won with almost 62 percent of the vote.)
Democratic candidate Sam Granato!
* Sam Granato: Send a small businessman to the Senate — Salt Lake Tribune Editorial, Oct. 9, 2010
... At this critical time, it makes sense to send a man to the Senate who is one of those small business people that everyone is always paying lip service to. You know, the men and women who meet a payroll and create new jobs. The folks who struggle to provide health insurance benefits for their employees. Sam could provide some Main Street smarts to Senate debates on tax and economic policy. ...
... Granato’s opponent is Mike Lee, a radical, hard-right Republican lawyer whose policy stands flow from his extremist reading of the Constitution. He argues for repealing the income tax, asserting limited state sovereignty over federal lands in Utah and amending the 14th Amendment so that children born in the United States to parents who do not have legal status here would not be citizens. Granato hopes to accomplish the return to civility in politics that Americans say they want. We believe he would work with members of both parties. That’s another reason he deserves Utahns’ support on Election Day.
Did we call that, or what?