Most Utah Candidates Decline to Answer Issues Survey
BY DAN HARRIE
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Most of the major-party candidates running for Congress from Utah and for the state Legislature this year have declined to take a public-issue survey of a nonpartisan group that says it exists only to provide accurate, unbiased information to voters.
Project Vote Smart claims the politicians are apparently afraid to take positions on many important issues before the election.
Both U.S. House incumbents seeking re-election -- Republican Chris Cannon and Democrat Jim Matheson -- failed to respond to the so-called national political awareness test by Project Vote Smart. Republican John Swallow, who is challenging Matheson, and 1st Congressional District candidate Rob Bishop, also Republican, also declined to answer the survey questions.
The refusals amount to "a deliberate dumbing down of the electorate," organization spokesman Aaron Brock said in an interview Wednesday.
Project Vote Smart President Richard Kimball said in a statement that candidates increasingly are using the excuse that their opponents will use the information against them in campaigns.
"But if candidates are afraid to let their opponents know where they stand on issues, they can't let the voters know -- a development that is not only illogical, but also dangerous to the ideals of democracy and an informed electorate," the statement said.
The survey, available at www.vote-smart.org, contains a range of questions on meaty issues such as national security, Social Security, gun rights, abortion and Internet taxation.
Five Utah congressional candidates filled out the questionnaire. Democrats Dave Thomas, running in the 1st District, and Nancy Woodside, in the 3rd District, were the only major-party nominees to do so. They were joined by Green Party hopeful Craig Axford, 1st District; Green candidate Patrick Diehl, 2nd District, and Libertarian Kitty Burton, 3rd District.
The 56 percent response rate of congressional candidates was a drop from 74 percent in the last election.
Politicians running for the Utah Legislature were even less forthcoming. Just 1 in 4 responded to the survey.
Just 14 of 69 incumbents on the Nov. 5 ballot answered the survey. At the same time, 27 of 99 challengers responded.
Political party advisers are telling candidates to shun the survey, in part because it might take them away from a preprogrammed message, Brock said. "They're afraid to fill out the test because they're afraid to step beyond their hot issue or two."
Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party, acknowledged giving such counsel to state legislative candidates.
"We believe Project Vote Smart is biased and doesn't reflect local politics," Taylor said. "They are tilted toward making politics extreme."
Taylor's GOP counterpart, Scott Simpson, said he gives no advice for or against the survey, and has no opinion on its objectivity or slant.
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