What political lessons did we learn in 2022?

Review some of the lessons our politicians learned this year — to their benefit or downfall: Don’t put it in writing. Get your dang signatures. If you believe it, then stick to it

By Frank Pignanelli & LaVarr Webb

Pignanelli & Webb: “The 2022 lesson: Voters who trust elections are more likely to vote.” — The New York Times  

As is traditional every year’s end, the news media are feeding Americans a stream of 2022 highlights and predictions for 2023. But your columnists possess greater experience and more common sense than most of those younger, beautiful talking heads. (In other words, we are a lot older and uglier.)

So we hereby offer our 2022 political lesson nuggets, providing insight for politicos in the future.

Don’t put it in writing. Text messages are the newest form of written correspondence. So even if the very powerful chief of staff of the president of the United States asks you to offer hypotheticals regarding constitutional provisions related to presidential election procedures, kindly but firmly refuse. Some of Sen. Mike Lee’s text messages to White House officials were likely academic musings. But he should have shared them through the antiquated technology of a telephone call, or the much-tested failsafe method of in-person conversation.

Nothing beats basic retail politics. In the 2020 legislative session, GOP Sen. Dan Thatcher voted against legislation limiting transgender boys’ participation in high school sports. Everyone (and we mean everyone) assumed he was dead politically, especially running in a new and even more conservative Senate district. Thatcher was not daunted, and he visited every Republican delegate to explain his rationale in a personal conversation. He not only survived the convention, but emerged as the sole nominee, besting several challengers. Regardless of one’s opinion on the bill, it is refreshing to know that courage and shoe leather mean something in the 21st century.

Get your dang signatures. We’ve said this before … and will say it again. The delegate/convention process is flawed and hard to predict, even for the best of politicians. Rep. John Curtis barely survived the convention. Popular GOP legislator Stephen Handy did not. They, along with others, are textbook examples of why it is political misfeasance to avoid this exercise.

Get your dang signatures — Part 2. The unpredictable nature of delegates does not just reside with Republicans. Attendees at the State Democratic Convention refused to nominate a fine candidate — Kael Weston — in order to back independent Evan McMullin. Weston could have avoided this dismissal with signatures. Equally important, Democrats would have avoided the foolishness of signaling to Utah voters that they lacked confidence in their message and party by rejecting a Democratic candidate to lead the ticket.

Candidate quality really matters. Being endorsed by Donald Trump got a lot of bad Republican candidates nominated, who then lost in the general election. And a number of quality candidates opposed by Trump still won. In 2024, Trump himself will be the bad candidate. He may win the GOP nomination, but he can’t win the general election.

Nothing beats retail politics — Part 2. Salt Lake County Council member Richard Snelgrove is a popular, successful businessman and political moderate who was well-liked on both sides the political spectrum. But lawmaker Suzanne Harrison developed a strong message and worked all corners of the county to defeat Snelgrove. She documented that in politics nothing can be taken for granted by anyone whether you are an incumbent or a longshot contender.

If you believe it then stick to it. Gov. Spencer Cox and U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney have endured much criticism from their own party. Activists are frustrated with their moderate stances on some issues. Yet, both never wavered from articulating personal beliefs rooted in faith and conviction. Cox is now enjoying high approval ratings. Romney polls are less positive but he still commands respect and remains a viable contender in 2024. 

Negative advertising does work, unfortunately. Every year, the news media notes that Utahns despise attack commercials, but concede they do move the electoral needle. We suggest much of this dilemma exists because of a vacuum of quality positive ads or humorous comparison advertisements. In other words, the nasty ads persuade because there is a void of anything else.

Independent campaigns rarely succeed. The electoral math showed that independents McMullin and Handy had reasonable chances of winning. But voters, at the end, almost always come home to their political parties and their nominees. 

Learn from history. History documents that stridently partisan political actions produce limited results. The Senate Watergate hearings were viewed as fair and therefore were credible and impactful. The impeachment proceedings against Clinton were deemed biased and Republicans suffered in the next midterm elections. Despite all the interesting results, the Trump impeachments and the January 6 Commission are correctly painted as partisan attacks and therefore little may result.

Trust voters and our system. In past elections, Trump, many of his acolytes and even some Democrats have spread fear that democracy and fair elections were in peril. These nonsensical allegations were dismissed by most Americans, especially younger citizens, who turned out in strong numbers to vote. In Utah, the elections demonstrated once again that our state conducts a quality balloting process. Apparently, Americans and Utahns have greater respect for the strength of the republic than do many of their leaders. All should treasure this collective virtue.