Jim Dabakis and Stephen Urquhart visit USU to discuss Democrat, Republican party futures

Utah State Senator Jim Dabakis and former Senator Steve Urquhart visited USU Thursday to talk about the futures of the nation and political parties following the recent general election.

Dabakis (D-Salt Lake County) currently serves as the Utah senate minority caucus manager. Steve Urquhart (R-St. George) served as a Utah senator until September before leaving to take a position at the University of Utah. 

Dabakis and Urquhart have worked together on a number of non-partisan issues, despite coming from “totally different districts.”

“I’ve watched the two of them work together very closely,” said Neil Abercrombie, director of government relations. 

Abercrombie said the senators were a “perfect fit to talk about not only their own perspective but what this [election] might mean for the future.”

“I love Jim. Jim and I have worked together on LGBT issues; he really has taught me on a lot,” Urquhart said. 

“Other than that and a few other issues, he’s wrong on everything else,” Urquhart joked.

Both senators were willing to give president-elect Donald Trump a chance in the White House, although Dabakis said, “There is a lot of fear right now.”

“If I were a Muslim in America now, I would be fearful,” Dabakis said. 

Dabakis also said he was concerned for children who were brought into the country illegally at a young age who may be deported to a country they’ve never visited and possibly a language they’ve never spoken.

Urquhart urged the attendees not to panic. 

“It’s going to be OK,” he said. “There’s so much nonsense that gets said in politics that they don’t really mean. I think we need to be vigilant. These are real concerns, but I don’t think the right thing to do is panic.”

Urquhart also emphasized that he didn’t believe that racism and misogyny motivated many people to vote for Trump.

“I think they just chose to go another way than Hillary,” he said.

Dabakis said he was “ready and willing” to give Trump a chance. He thought that student loans and infrastructure were two areas that could do well in Congress and with Trump. 

“But if [Trump] starts doing crazy things I’m not going to crawl under the table,” Dabakis said.

Urquhart and Dabakis talked about individual party futures as well.

“I think that both parties need to see whether they are in touch with the people, and I don’t think either is,” Urquhart said. “We might have outgrown parties. You guys are the ones who are going to decide that.”

“I think this was a really good example of probably what we don’t have enough of, two opposite party people coming together and having a reasonable discussion despite their differences,” said Braxton Loosli, a senior in Law and Constitutional Studies. “I think there was a lot of maturity, a lot of questions, a lot of centrist positions which I don’t think we have enough of, given the polarized political climate.”

The USU Institute of Government and Politics sponsors events such as these to “have policy makers interact directly with students,” Abercrombie said. “We try to have a balance, some that are more political, some that are more policy driven.” 

The institute’s next event is Nov. 21 featuring McKay Coppins, senior political for Buzzfeed.

— joshua.hortin@aggiemail.usu.edu