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Don’t bet against Ben
……Ben McAdams https://benmcadamsforcongress.com/ is popular. He is resourceful. He is more comfortable in Utah than in New York. He has been a state legislator and a County Mayor. He is pretty conservative for a Democrat. He is not so conservative for Utah. He would rather think about solving problems than about political positions.
……If an interviewer asked Ben McAdams: “Talk about a problem you had to face and how you solved it.” He might describe the following problem and solution.
……The Utah State legislature required Salt Lake County, where Ben McAdams is the mayor, to create a new homeless shelter in the County, but outside Salt Lake City. Ben McAdams first step was to pretend he was homeless. For three days and two nights. Without publicity. A colleague doing the same was all the protection he had.
……Ben McAdams took advice from other homeless men. Find a place to sleep. Don’t go to the toilet after dark. Don’t take off your shoes.
……Ben McAdams and his colleague lined up for a bed in the homeless shelter in Salt Lake City’s tough area – a shelter that served over 1,000 people. They were rejected. Later in the day, bedraggled by a cold and heavy rain, they got separated, but each lined up again. They each got a mattress. They were too late for a blanket.
……Ben McAdams reminds those he speaks to. He was a phone call away from health insurance, from a warm bed, from a hot meal. Nevertheless, he was frightened.
……Ben McAdams did not publicize the experience. When a reporter approached him, having heard informally about the experience, Ben McAdams was reluctant and reticent. He didn’t say much. He refused to talk about drug use among the homeless — about drug use outside the shelter or inside.
……Ben McAdams came to a conclusion. He would move toward subsidized housing for homeless families. He would reduce the size of shelters. He has replaced the enormous shelter with shelters that serve 400 people — one in Salt Lake City, two outside of the City. He has committed to services for the homeless that use the shelters. ……Here is another problem Ben McAdams faced and how he addressed it.
……The County Council hired professional planners to develop a response to the population growth that Salt Lake County has been experiencing. The planners responded with a solution.
……They proposed zoning changes to allow for planned communities, areas with increased density, multi-family housing offset by recreation and multi-use areas. The zoning change would be near existing areas with large lot zoning requirements. The planners proposed green space and recreational space that would serve as a barrier between the planned communities and the large lot zoned areas.
……The County Council approved the plan.
……The people in the large lot zoned areas did not. They submitted petitions against the plan. They foresaw increased density that would put pressure on roads, on public schools, on their way of life.
……Ben McAdamslistened to their concerns and vetoed the Council’s zoning change approval. The Council adjourned rather than attempt to override the veto.
……Does Ben McAdamshave a compromise? A plan to develop a compromise? We don’t know. We do know that the idea of conventional suburban living resonates for him.
……He has a public record. We know something about Ben McAdams through that record. He is particularly proud of his ability to serve as Mayor and maintain a balanced budget. As a legislator, he was similarly conservative on budget matters, earning the highest score among Democrats from the Utah Taxpayer’s association.
……In the legislature, Ben McAdams had to take votes. He has stated that he is pro-life, that his pro-life position is consistent with his Mormon religion. He does not insist that others live by his values. He voted against a bill that would have allowed medical personnel to refuse to provide an abortion on religious or moral grounds. He also voted against extending the mandatory waiting period for someone seeking an abortion from 24 hours to 72 hours.
……Ben McAdams is opposed to discrimination in the workplace and elsewhere. He proposed a bill opposing discrimination against gay and transgender people in housing and employment. Sometimes, he is able to find a middle way that pleases groups that do not otherwise agree. In 2012, he received a relatively high 77% rating from the National Education Association and a 75% rating from Parents for Choice in Education.
……Ben Adams is a Utahan. He is a graduate of the University of Utah where he began as an electrical engineer major and ended as a political science major. As a senior, he married his high school girlfriend. After his mission to Brazil, they left together for Columbia Law School. He worked as an attorney for a Wall Street firm, earned enough to make a dent in his loans, and returned to Utah for his life and career.
……The Democrats have a lot of women running for Congress in 2018. A striking number of people who are ethnic and religious minorities running in districts where they are not a member of the majority. A black, Hispanic in upstate New York. A Fillipina in a heavily Hispanic district in Texas. Two native American women — one in Kansas, the other in New Mexico.
……Ben McAdams is a young white Morman man running against a Hatian-American Republican Congresswoman in an almost entirely white district. Born in New York of immigrant parents who became eligible for a green card by virtue of the birth of their daughter, she was raised as a Roman Catholic. She majored in voice at amusic conservatory. She converted to the Church of Latter Day Saints when she was an airline stewardess and moved to Utah as a consequence of that conversion. She turned down a chance to be in Smokey Joe’s Cafe on Broadway to marry Jason Love, a marriage scheduled for a date that nearly coincided with the play’s opening.
……Ben McAdams has a good story. Mia Love has a better one. But her voting record and her views are very conservative. She would make abortion illegal. She would cut education funds severely, abolish the Education Department, and focus on a free market for education. She opposes all federal regulation related to the environment. She opposes “food entitlements” and other government entitlements. She opposes same-sex marriage. She is endorsed by the NRA. Although after the Parkland shooting, she was willing to take some steps toward the regulation of guns. She would repeal the Affordable Care Act and would cap Medicaid spending.
……Love breaks with the President on two issues. She would allow the DACA immigrants to remain in the country and is opposed to his imposition of tariffs. In 2016, she found Donald Trump so offensive, she announced she would not vote for him.
……Her distaste for Donald Trump is not enough. Her interesting story is not enough. Ben McAdams https://benmcadamsforcongress.com/is a Democrat worth supporting. His views, his political positions, his support in organizing a Democratic House of Representatives are what we need. Help him become a Democratic Congressman from Utah. We need one. ……
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