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Show AA3 __TheSalt Lake TribuneCOMMENTARY Sunday, August 25, 1996 Democrats Trying to Straighten Out Morality Differences ley by 50 to 60 percentage points in early 2S ls Apparently, thatis not enough. Leavitt, The fledgling movement to make morally moderate and conservative Utah Democrats feel good about themselves has taken a step forward with the formation of an organizing committeeand a let- ter to 2,000 Salt Lake County Democrats: It assures the faithful that their party is not in a terminalstate The goalis to form political action committee and raise funds for moderate Democratic candidates who may espouse Corradini and a longtimeassistantto former Congressman Wayne Owens. Reid. a public relations executive for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pur- THE ROLLY REPORT lic. and lesbians. Evans, said no matter whatthe lead, Theyare counting the potential Demo cratic votes for minorityleader after the election this fall and currentlyhave it toc never know how much money you are go- sen, committee members include Rep. cause he did not wantit to be seen just as a Mormon Democrat movement. Christensen is a Mormon, Pignanelli a CathoBesides Reid, Pignanelli and Christen- Grant Protzman, D-North Ogden, Democratic National Committeewoman-elect Bobbie Coray of Logan, Salt Lake City PAUL ROLLY lawyers Michael Bailey and Matt Dur- the secondary target is Senate Minority Leader Scott Howell, D-Sandy, who has becomea thorn in theside of Senate President Lane Beattie ham, Salt Lake City business executives Jill Remington and Troy D'Ambrosio and Wendy Tidwell, an aide to Democratic CongressmanBill Orton. informational meeting in July, they discussed movingit from the scheduled location at the State Capitol for fear it would be picketed They stayed put, about 25 people attended andthere wasno picketing. Now, the organizersare getting help with their mailing from the State Democratic Party and they are attempting to comfort their uspicious colleagues with the assurance theirsis an expansive, notdivisive, movement Co-chairs of the cominittee are Pignan- elli and Kay Christensen, administrative assistant to Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee The letter, signed by Pignanelli and Christensen, claims: “Any allegations that we are intending to create a third party, or make our party more Republican, or disregard our core Democratic valuesis nonsense.” 000 might tie for first place. countries love to celebrate, with or without reason. The best wayto get the ideais to try doing business with such places as the Russian embassy in Noel Washington, D.C., or the U.S. em- bassy in Moscowduring the holiday season. Employees there apparently mark every Russian and American holiday, which usually fall on different days, and nobody bothers to go to the office on those days in between However, last week was obvi- ously an exception. Only a few people in Russia and America seemed to notice an anniversary AS ‘i MICHAEL NAKORYAKOV portant. They — more than anything happening later — marked the end of the post-World War II world as mostof us knewit Those three days in August did not gain their historic significance as a total surprise. Previously. that arguably marks one of the most fateful events of recent his- flimsy attempts were made by former Moscowleader Yuri An- tory — Russia's 1991 communist coup attempt. The fact is, events climaxing on Aug. 22 five years ago, with total defeat of forces dropov to question the Marxist dogma, followed by Mikhail Gorbachey's “perestroika’ (restructuring) and “glasnost” (openness) trying to restore the old commu- campaigns But before the morning of Aug nist regime. were extremely im- man also is not shy about calling press conferences and hasoften criticized legislative leaders for conducting too much nick, a Sandyrealtor. he will likely face a business in secret The last thing the staid. comfortable stiff challenge for the minority leadership position from Sen, Mike Dmitrich, D- ice. club of the Utah Senate wants is another rabble-rouser like Howell Dmitrich was minority leader in the Some lobbyists who received the subtle warning say they are contributing to Protzman but are laundering the dona- years before movingto the Senate. He isa known compromiser, a team player who gets along with former Republican Gov Norm Bangerter and then-Speakerofthe House Nolan Karras,nowa trusted advisor to Gov. Mike Leavitt The Republican leaders have been openly annoyedat Howell. They consider tions through other contributors RUNNING UP SCORE? Gov. Mike Leavitt has more than $1 million in his campaign war chest and leads his Democratic opponent Jim Brad- him more partisan than Dmitrich. They 19, when hard-linersrolled heavy tanks and armored cars down Moscow's streets in an attempt to brake reforms, the Soviet Union — Ronald Reagan's “Evil Em- Both the 29-member Senate), If Protzman, the assistant minority whip in the House, defeats Sen. Robert Montgomery, R-North Ogden. heis ex. pected to be a Howell supporter. Protz House of Representatives for several SUBTLE MESSAGE Several lobbyists say Republican leadersin the Utah State Senate have implied that if they contributeto the Senate campaign of Rep. Grant Protzman, D-North Ogden,it will damage their accessibility to the Senate. While Protzman is the primarytarget of the subtle intimidation, insiders say RUSSIAN VIEW close to call (there are 10 Democrats in If Howell wins his bid for a third term this year against Republican Bob War- Coup Defeat Is Reason for Remembrance Russia and the United States per-foursome golf tournament in Heber City, is having another fundraiser Sept posely refrained from co-chairing be- moralissues not in tune with the majority In a global competition for holidays and national anniversaries. raised close to $80,000 from a $2.000 media (he is often heard on KALL's Tom Barberi showcritiquing a Senate vote shortly after it was completed) and they suspect Howell of being the leak to the press when they were caught conducting the infamous — and illegal — secret meeting last winter on controlling gays backlash from Democratic leaders who feared it would splinter the already downtrodden party Feelings were running so strong that when organizers Stuart Reid, a Salt Lake City councilman, and House Minority Leader Frank Pignanelli had their first of the Utah Democratic Party. When the movement began. it caused a whose campaign recently don't like the way Howell plays to the pire” — was still alive. Therestill was a chance some kind ofagree- ment between the 15 former Soviet republics could keep themto- gether, meaning Gorbachev would retain power, the Commu- nist Party would keepits decisive position and the world’s US.US.S.R. bipolarity would remain largelyintact I have a feeling that Gorbachev’s reformsare stuck in a deep swamp.” one of the chief architects of “glasnost,”” newspaper editor Yegor Yakovlev, told me in early ‘91 “We keep moving our arms and legs as if we run reallyfast, but, in fact, we not only stay where we were, but even slide backward That didn't happen. The communist ideologists proved pathetically incapable of analyzing the situation correctly. By using mili- 14 at This is the Place State Park. Cost $100 a person, $25 a child or $1.500 per table. Lobbyists have also been instructed. to bring new contributors into the loop. Leavitt's campaign manager, Charlie “you ing to need.” But the traditional givers who are usually bled bypolitical campaigns are running out of blood this year Democratic Sen. Scott Howell is having a $35-per-person fundraiser at La Caille Sept. 5, the House Republicans have a fundraiser Sept. 7, Senate Republicans have one Sept. 18 and the Senate Demo- crats do theirs Oct. 2 Both Republican and Democratic can, didates have complained that the Leavitt steamroller has left the cupboard a bit empty for others Evans says Leavitt maydistribute mon. ey to other Republicans later on if it is determined the governor's campaign has more moneythan it needs. Howell says if Leavitt pumps up Republican legislative candidates from his campaign vault this fall. “it will cause all-out war. We (the Democrats) have carried his water on a lotof issues and we would consider direct contributions from his campaign to defeat us individually to be a slap in the face tary force in August. they dug a huge hole into which they fell Neither numerous subsequent mistakes made by reformers nor widespread nostalgia for the good old days” themclimb back out. have helped The Soviet Union and its communist systemdiedfive years ago and that’s certainly reason enough to celebrate on both sides of the Atlantic. But that also is a reasontorememberthat the Cold War didn't end with a U.S. victory. What really happened could be compared with the surprise endingof a boxing matchasoneofthefighters suddenlyfalls down andisdiagnosed with cancer. Moreover, the collapsed oppo nent didn't die. During difficult prolonged surgery, half a stom. ach, a kidney anda lungwerelost partial amnesia developed and that has inflicted dramatic personality changes. But the patient is feeling better trying to remember past the key question. The disastrous war in Chech nya. accompanied by dangerous political games in the Kremlin and the obvious strengthening of positionsheld by the Russian mili tary-industrial complex, which health, and chancesfor successful last year managed to surpass the US. in arms sales to Third World recovery improve. Just what restored health will bring remains bling outlook countries, all contribute to a trou But then. the events of August ‘91 in Moscow indicated a communist resurgence when, ultimately, they permitted the reformers’ tri- umph. It’s not always wise to predict endings by instantly inter: preting beginnings. Salt Lake Tribune writer Mihael Nakoryakovwas a journalist in Moscow until 1991 > AD |espn, eve # C-SPAN Expanded Basic W/5 Premiums COURT 29.99 wo.| 48:85 no 54.99 | 60,00. 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