Guest Opinion piece by Brent Allsop and Jim Bennett.

In the recent State Convention, Bruce Lindsay wonderfully clarified a big problem we have with the United Utah Party when he listed synonyms for “moderate,” including “average, middle of the road, mediocre, unbiased, compromising, and boring.” We believe we can create a party that doesn’t match those synonyms. The way to do that is make this a party that directly reflects the consensus of its members.

To date, all political parties are modeled after traditional hierarchies.  And for thousands of generations, we’ve been bred to only support what the guy at the top of the hierarchy wants.  Anything else is feared and something that needs to be destroyed.  Any group that tries to function without a hierarchy is like “herding cats” and can’t scale.

But what if it could? 

What does it mean to be a Uniter during quarantine when group gatherings are off limits? Being a Uniter means more than being a moderate. It means we are actively taking part in trying to bring the community together. This is something that seems to be rare from the major parties. But we think a Uniter might do some of these things:

Understandably, in presidential election years the race for the presidency gets more attention from voters than races for state and local office. That applies to United Utah Party members as well. And it has led to some members suggesting that the party should be a national party and not just a local one. 

Do we open businesses to get the economy moving again or wait until testing is widespread and cases are falling and not just on a plateau? That is the question that is dividing the nation today—or at least the partisans.

If the heart of democracy is the will of the people, then few things should be more important than voting. That’s why the United Utah Party seeks voting methods that not only help all Utahns vote, but also give Utahns the ability to truly vote for what they want.

All of us are sailing in uncharted waters right now. That includes the United Utah Party. We are a relatively new party still attempting to build awareness and identify supporters. This election season was our big opportunity to do so.

Please join us Saturday, April 11, 2020 at 02:00 PM for our United Utah Party Davis County Virtual Convention! The meeting will last no more than an hour. To attend the zoom meeeting, simply click here.

During the meeting, you'll have a chance to virtually interact with fellow UUP members including Ammon Gruwell, our candidate in House District 15, and Shawn Ferriola, our candidate in House District 12.

The United Utah Party will be holding its third annual state convention on Saturday, April 18 at 10 AM. Due to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines still in place, the convention will not take place in any one physical location and will be held entirely online. Bruce Lindsay, former news anchor for KSL-TV, will be the keynote speaker at the convention

Smoke began billowing out of the window of an apartment complex. Someone alerted the mayor of the city to call out the fire department. But the mayor said it was just one apartment, it may not be anything serious, and he had a handle on the situation.

Coronavirus, earthquake, economic recession—we live in scary times. However, the reality is we don't get to determine the crises we face. At the same time, we do get to choose our responses to those crises. Those responses determine the sort of people we are. What sort should we be in a time of crisis?