What the caucus?! Can Sen. Mike Lee survive a challenge from the establishment?

March 09, 2022

Writer

Utah Sen. Mike Lee is a rockstar in the conservative movement, so he should be totally safe in a historically red state — shouldn't he? That may not be the case this year as the establishment wing of the Republican Party would love nothing more than to find a way to unseat the senior Senator. Also, Utah is no longer the deep-red state that many hoped and claimed it to be. A lot of money and resources have been funneled the way of the challengers, most notably to the daughter-in-law of BYU football coaching legend LaVell Edwards.

Becky Edwards has served for a decade as a state rep. and this race is in no way a given. She represents a small but growing faction of the Republican Party and many social media influencers have urged their followers to change their registration from Democrat to Republican in order to unseat Sen. Lee.

One thing the incumbent has going for him (besides being one of the most conservative members of the Senate), is the system by which the party chooses its candidate. Utah has a unique method that some may not be too familiar with so here is a brief rundown of how it works and why it puts a little more wind in the sails of Sen. Lee's campaign.

First, it is not an out-and-out primary like most states. To put it simply, it is modeled after the representative republic that governs the country. Just like we elect our representatives to fight for our ideals and values on our behalf, delegates are elected via hand-written paper ballots and those delegates attend the state convention and cast their ballots for the candidate the people of their precinct support.

If any candidate receives 60% +1 of the delegates' vote, they are selected as the party's candidate for the general election right then and there, avoiding a primary altogether. If there is not a clear winner, there is a run-off of sorts and the top two candidates move on to the general primary in June. If that's clear as mud, here are a couple of resources for you to read up on.

"It's an incredible way to get those who are most passionate about their communities to get together and choose the candidate for their party who most closely represents their views," Sen. Lee said. "It's a truly decentralized way to trust and empower the voters."

"It's a truly decentralized way to trust and empower the voters," Sen. Mike Lee said.

The process sounds complicated but if you've never experienced a caucus, it really is a fascinating peek into how our system operates. Since I'm a constituent of Sen. Lee and a resident of Utah, I took my pen and paper and took some notes to let you in on the process to see how the sausage is made in Utah elections.

6:33 pm: The registration portion was scheduled from 6-7 pm at the local elementary school and my wife and I are two of the first three people to walk in the door. All is dark and the doors are locked for the room where we are supposed to meet.

6:55 pm: The first of the organizers arrives and unlocks the doors. Tables are set up for registration as a few more people straggle in.

*We later found out we are a new precinct and had yet to elect leadership, so the show was run by volunteers who graciously accepted the call to serve.

6:57 pm: One of the party officials who is running the registration had an interesting interaction with a voter.

"Oops, you probably need to see my id."

"I mean, I'm happy to look at it, and it is in the rules, but I mean..."

*Both parties were older white males, so don't worry—it wasn't racist in any way to ask or to not look.

7:15 pm: We are just about to get started and we topped out at 15 total in attendance for our precinct. Though our numbers may be few, we are a passionate and well-informed bunch. Aside from the topic of the Senate race, the one sentiment that was made clear was that many if not most considered themselves very conservative, but for the most part, they were not fans of President Trump. Many expressed the hopes that he does not run and allows a well-developed stable of candidates to have a crack at it.

7:45 pm: Those throwing their hats in the ring give their mini stump speech about who they'd vote for and why. Most arguments against Sen. Lee appear to be more of an emotional plea or petty grievances, lacking in details. One constituent didn't care for Sen. Lee much in the way President Trump's detractors did not care for him, in the form of mean tweets of sorts. If you know anything about Sen. Lee, your imagination must be running wild at what he possibly could have said. Check it out for yourself and see just how mean the good Senator can be. He must be doing something right, he has passionate support among the vast majority in attendance.

8:12 pm: All votes have been tallied and we have a new precinct chair. If his shirt has anything to do with it, I think we'll be in good hands with this BYU law student.

8:15 pm: The show is over and there are no cookies to be found anywhere. This travesty could only ever be overlooked in lieu of Built Bars, but alas...

As you can see, it only takes the actions of a few to make a dramatic impact on your state — so get to work!

VP debate recap: A Vance victory

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This might have been the most consequential VP debate in recent memory.

For those of you who missed the debate, it was a decisive victory for J.D. Vance and the Trump-Vance team as a whole. Vance presented a calm, collected, and considerate side of the Republican party that compliments Trump and helps to make their platform more palatable. Meanwhile, Tim Walz had a lackluster, though certainly not catastrophic, night. He had a few embarrassing gaffes and came across as overly nervous, but like Vance, kept it civil.

Both VP candidates entered the stage as relative unknowns to most Americans, and by the end, both men had given an accurate representation of their characters. Here is a brief recap just in case you missed the debate:

J.D. Vance looked great

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Vance came out of the gate swinging, with a stellar opening statement that helped set the stage for the rest of the debate. He delivered a concise yet compelling recap of his life, which framed him as everything Walz claims to be: a relatable veteran from humble beginnings who earned his position through hard work and service. He then went on to deliver a clear and palatable defense of Trump's platform and mission while cooly drawing attention to the failures of the Biden-Harris administration.

Overall, J.D. Vance looked incredibly presidential. He presented himself not just as a capable vice president, but as a strong successor to Trump and as a valid replacement if anything should happen to the former president between now and the end of his hypothetical second term. Vance also successfully dispelled the notion that he is "weird" as Walz called him, and if anyone looked strange during the debate, it certainly wasnot Vance.

Tim Walz's gaffes

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While Tim Walz certainly didn't have an awful night, he did not stack up well against Vance. Walz had a major gaffe around halfway through the debate when asked to explain the change in his position on assault weapon bans. Walz then claimed that he had befriended school shooters during his time in office. While that was clearly not the intention of what he was saying, it was embarrassing nonetheless.

Another weak moment was when the moderators asked Walz to explain a claim he had made regarding being in Hong Kong during the infamous Tiananmen Square protest in 1989, which has since been proven false. Walz gave a long-winded, rambling answer about taking students to visit China and how Trump should have joined in on those trips, before being called out by the moderator for dodging the question.

Vance fact-checked the fact-checkers

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One of the conditions of the CBS debate was that the moderators would not fact-check the debaters live, but instead rely on after-the-matter fact-checking. But, CBS couldn't keep to its own rules. While Vance was describing the migrant crisis that has swelled during the Biden-Harris administration, one of the CBS moderators, Margaret Brennan, chimed in with a "fact check." She claimed that the Haitian migrants in Ohio have legal status, to which Vance clapped back by calling Brennan out for breaking the rules of the debate, then proceeded to correct her, explaining that they only had legal status due to overreach by the Biden-Harris administration.

Dockworker strike: Everything you need to know

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At midnight on September 30th, dockworkers across the East Coast went on strike, effectively cutting the country's import and export capabilities in half.

Don't go out and panic buy a pallet of toilet paper and instant ramen just yet. It's going to take some time for the full effects of the strike to be felt and hopefully, the strike will be good and over by then. But there are no guarantees, and this election cycle could get significantly more insane as we draw near to the election. And even if the strike is settled quickly, it shows growing cracks in our infrastructure and industrial capacity that needs to be addressed if America wants to maintain its global dominance.

Here is everything you need to know about the dockworker strike:

What do the dockworkers want?

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As with most strikes, pay is the driving factor behind this situation the country now finds itself in. The longshoremen want more pay, and with rising inflation who can blame them? After all, working the docks is hard and dangerous business, and fair compensation only seems... fair. But when you compare the wage of a dockworker, which is around $100,000 to $200,00 a year to the average income in America of $56,000, suddenly they seem significantly less sympathetic.

How much money are they asking for? For most Americans, a three percent raise is considered high, but the unions are asking up to 15 percent, depending on location. On top of that, they are asking for a 77 percent raise over the next six years. The West Coast dock workers recently made off with a 36 percent raise and were considered lucky. These increases in costs are just going to be transferred to the end consumer, and we'll likely see a jump in prices if these terms are accepted.

The other major ticket item is protection against automation. Autonomous ports are quickly becoming a reality, with major ports in China that are capable of handling vast amounts of cargo being run by a single office, not an army of dock workers. Naturally, the longshoremen are concerned that their jobs are at risk of being replaced by machines that can work harder, longer, for cheaper, and without risk of injury.

How will it affect Americans?

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Don't panic yet!

It is going to take some time for consumers to feel the effects of the strike and it is possible that a resolution could happen at any time.

Week one should be pretty much business as usual. It might be a good idea to stock up on fruit and other perishables, but there is no need to go COVID-lockdown-crazy yet.

Week two is when you'll first start feeling the pinch. Fresh fruits and veggies will become scarce, along with other imported goods like shoes, toys, and TVs. Prices will start to creep up as the shelves will start to look a little sparse. The supply of tools, lumber, and other hardware materials will also begin to dry up.

By week three, the cracks in the system will really start to show. Entire industries will begin to slow down, or even stop. Factory workers will get furloughed and sent home without pay. Stores will have to ration items, prices will be sky-high, and online orders will come to a standstill. At this point, the strike will have escalated into a full-blown crisis, and even if it was resolved immediately, it would still take weeks to restore everything to working order.

At the four-week mark, the situation will have developed into a national security crisis, and as Glenn describes, a poly-crisis. Small business will be closing their doors, entire brands will be out of stock, and everything that remains will be so expensive it is unaffordable. By this point, the holiday season will be drawing near and there will be a rush on any sort of gift or decor items left. At this point, irreparable damage to our economy will have occurred and it will be months if not years before it can be mended.

While that sounds bleak, with the election just around the corner, it seems unlikely that the Biden-Harris administration will let it get that bad. That being said, their administration has not been characterized by good decision-making and reasonable policy, so there are no guarantees.

What can be done?

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The big question is "Why hasn't Biden already done something?"

President Biden, who ran on the image of a blue-collar, union-worker, has been uncharacteristically absent from the issue. Despite his earlier involvement in a train strike, Biden has declared that involvement in union fights is not a presidential issue unless it getsreally bad.

So where's the line? At what point will he step in? He has to understand that an economic crisis right before the election will reflect poorly on Kamala.

Join Glenn TONIGHT for BlazeTV's exclusive VP debate coverage!

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Join Glenntonight for Vice Presidential debate coverage you do not want to miss!

Tonight is the first (and only) Vice Presidential debate, and it will be hosted by CBS News. But don't be reliant on CBS News or any other mainstream media channel for their biased coverage. Join the BlazeTV live stream tonight to get the uncensored truth alongside top-quality commentary from Glenn and the rest of the world-class panel.

Glenn is joined by Megyn Kelly, Liz Wheeler, Allie Beth Stuckey, Steve Deace, Jill Savage, Dave Landau, and more to cover the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate. Blaze Media subscribers gain access to live chat with the fantastic panel of hosts! If you subscribe today by visiting BlazeTV.com/debate you will get $40 off of your annual subscription with code DEBATE. This is the largest discount ever offered, so take advantage NOW!

See you TONIGHT at 8 PM ET for an event you do NOT want to miss it!

POLL: Can the VP debate affect the election?

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The first (and likely only) Vice President debate will be held on CBS News on Tuesday, October 1st.

The debate takes place at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and will be the first time we see J.D. Vance and Tim Walz face off in person. Typically, the VP debate is little more than a formality, and rarely does it affect the election in any significant way. But this is no ordinary election. The stakes are higher than they have been in years, and Trump and Harris are still in a razor-thin race, according to the polls. Both Vance and Walz are relative newcomers to the national stage and still have room to make an impression on the American people, and with the race as tight as it is, that might make all the difference.

So what do you think? Can this VP debate make an impact on the election? Are you going to tune in? And what sort of questions and issues need to be brought up? Let us know in the poll below:

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