OUR VIEW: Candidate bus stop: Romney not included
On Wednesday, Mitt Romney’s campaign bus rolled into Logan and parked between the LDS Institute building and the LLC for all to gaze at its shimmering glory. While students ogled the marble-tile steps and the seat with Romney’s name embroidered in it, nearby booths were set up for passerby to register to vote. It was certainly a great way to get Logan-ites and Aggies involved the the political process, but something was missing…
Mitt Romney.
It seems almost disrespectful for the Romney campaign to plop their big shiny bus on the USU campus without the man himself showing his face. Utah is one of the reddest states in the union and hasn’t given its electoral votes to the Democrat since Kennedy. Barring the catastrophic, the state will overwhelmingly vote for Romney on Nov. 4 – and yet the man can’t manage to stay in Utah for more than a two-hour stint in Salt Lake City.
Where’s the love, Mitt?
USU’s political clubs and student body provide his campaign with a small army of free labor who will gladly sit down and make calls to battleground states. The USU College Republicans are one of the most active political groups on campus and throw their support behind him. Cache Valley and the rest of northern Utah is full of able-bodied voters who will show up in droves to cast their vote for him on Election Day.
And what does he do to thank us?
“Look at my shiny bus, you plebs. Vote for me.”
Where’s the love, Mitt?
Now, Obama has been no better. Cars in Logan proudly sport his 2008 and 2012 bumper stickers, yet he hasn’t made a stop to northern Utah yet: In fact, he hasn’t been to Utah at all since taking the Oath of Office. Even though Utah isn’t exactly Obama-friendly, it makes sense that a president should visit every state in the country he presides over. Still, his reasoning is more understandable than Romney’s – Utah and its five electoral votes are a shoe-in for Republicans, so any attempt by Obama to rally his Utah base to mount an epic upset would be an effort in futility.
But still, in the state that will resolutely stand by Romney no matter what gaffes he makes on the national stage, the state where the majority share his faith, the state where his campaign signs adorn front yards, why can’t he stay for more than a couple hours and get to know the people throughout the state that could possibly guide him to victory in November?
Maybe the electoral college system is to blame. Maybe the cultural homogeneity of Utah is to blame. Maybe the overall negativity of politics in this country is to blame. Whatever the case, in all of this election-year hullabaloo, it would be nice for northern Utah, USU and the rest of the state to get a little more respect than a bus blocking sidewalk traffic.
Where’s the love, Mitt? Where’s the love, Obama?