“People who vote for or help 3rd parties are wasting their time.”

“The idea that we will ever have a legitimate third political party is a fantasy.”

“We should wait until we have a viable 3rd party before we vote for them.”

“All voting for a 3rd party will do is split the (party they belong to) vote and allow the (party they do not belong to) to win.”

These are things I’ve heard a lot. A LOT. And many more like them. Whenever I tell people that I am voting for United Utah Party candidates, if they are a strong Republican or Democrat, they will come up with one of these reasons why I shouldn’t vote 3rd party (usually assuming that I would vote for their party if I didn’t).

But there is one common denominator for all of these ideas: they are built on fear. The fear is what happens when the United Utah Party becomes a threat to their party? For Democrats, this is already becoming the case. In several elections last November, the UUP was receiving votes comparable to what the Democrats would receive and some UUP candidates were better funded than the Democrats. For a brand new party to be receiving that kind of support already, this must be very disconcerting for them. For the Republicans, they know very well that Utahns have not been thrilled with their party as of late. They are afraid of losing too much support in a traditionally very red state. Their biggest consolation has been that Utahns are hesitant to throw their support behind Democrats. So there could be quite a groundswell of support for the UUP, enough to challenge the Republican party in the state.

So in response to those statements above, I would add the following:

“People who vote for or help 3rd parties are wasting their time.”

-- You mean you hope we are wasting our time.

“The idea that we will ever have a legitimate third political party is a fantasy.”

-- You mean you hope it is a fantasy.

“We should wait until we have a viable 3rd party before we vote for them.”

-- You mean you hope nobody will vote for us.

“All voting for a 3rd party will do is split the (party they belong to) vote and allow the (party they do not belong to) to win.”

-- You are afraid that your own party will lose.

There is no doubt the UUP is the underdog right now. There is no doubt that we have a lot of work ahead. But when you hear people using the above reasons to say we shouldn’t vote for a 3rd party, know that these statements are based on fear.

So why should you vote for us? Because we are what they are not. We are about practicality, not party. We are about compromise, not grandstanding. We are about finding solutions, not blaming. We are about fixing what is wrong with our government, not more of the same. If you are on the fence about whether or not you should vote for us, then I encourage you to not let fear guide your decisions, and vote for the candidate that best aligns with your beliefs.

We believe in finding candidates who can come up with their own solutions to problems, and not trying to make every candidate fit into a box in the shape of our platform. As such, you can expect to see from our candidates creative solution finding and problem-solving that the other parties can't manage. Since we are more about the method of finding the right answers and less about the specific answers, you can expect to see new ideas from our candidates with each election cycle. And while we certainly appreciate our party members, we hope that every person weighs the strengths and weaknesses of every candidate, and not just straight party vote. No other party does this. So what do our candidates have in common? They are pragmatic problem solvers who can see problems from all sides, and look for solutions outside of the narrow Republican / Democratic boxes. They believe in the voice of the people, and they will seek ways to encourage that voice. They are not beholden to anyone except their constituents, which means they will get things done.

If you don’t know much about us, then I invite you to come and find out what we are all about. Look around here at our website, come to a caucus, chat with one of us in person or on social media. We will be happy to see you.