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Debate this: USU College Republicans response to Rob Bishop recieving out-of-state campaign donations

It’s fall of 2016 and that means the season of election is in the air. The election of the next President of the United States will be elected November 8th.  While the nation is focused more on the race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton for the White House, there are also races to be followed closer to home. On November 8th we will also be electing our local leaders and that means that each candidate at the local level is trying to dig up whatever they can find about each other. Peter Clemens is trying to present an argument that Rob Bishop is raising funds from out of state donors and that results in Rob Bishop not having a need to listen to his constituency here in Utah.

In the Salt Lake Tribune article “Opponent attacks Rob Bishop’s reliance on out-of-state donationsPeter Clemens (D) is digging up evidence to attack and demean Rob Bishop (R). There are three points that I want to make regarding Rob Bishop and his decisions to receive out of state donations from energy companies.

The first argument is that Andy Pierucci, Rob Bishop’s campaign manager, said, “Money does not define how Rob votes nor with whom he speaks.” This is a benefit to Rob Bishop because if money doesn’t define how he makes decisions then he is of moral character and that is something that we need in the government of Utah.  Rob Bishop has been listening to his constituency for the past 7 terms because he has been elected the past 7 times.

The second argument is that campaigns take money to run and operate. At this point Peter Clemens has only $100,000 in his campaign and Rob Bishop has over $700,000.  Knowing where the money is coming from helps let the Utahns know what businesses want to do business with Utah.  

The third point is that the connections and experience that Rob Bishop has developed throughout his 7 terms is greatly benefiting Utahns by helping his constituents get the required resources to explore more drilling and more energy recovery to benefit the people of Utah.

This article demonstrates the type of attacks that each candidate has to face and deal with on a daily basis. Rob Bishop’s success can be dependent on how many of these “bumps” in the political campaign road can be mitigated to achieve the gold medal on November 8th.

Kevin Hill is a fifth year senior studying business administration and he is minoring in political science and operations management. He loves cars and dirt bikes. Also, he is president of the USU College Republicans.