.22-Caliber in a .45-Caliber World
Gregory P. Hawkins

There are 435 voting members of the House of Representatives. In 2004, we have the opportunity to send only one Congressman from Utah’s 3rd Congressional District to Washington. We cannot control who represents the other Districts but we can and will choose who we will send.

One of the most compelling and revealing questions that should be answered in choosing a representative is - does the representative believe that the power of government resides with the people or with some other group? This question and its answer go to the heart of how we will be represented.

We place our voice in trust with our representative. If an elected official believes, at his core, that government power and authority ought to reside and actually does reside with the people, then he will act in certain ways. He will recognize his role as the voice of those he represents.

On the other hand, if the representative believes that power, in political terms, lies elsewhere he may see his constituency in a less than favorable light, even a hindrance. He may actually see them as a threat to his power. He may be annoyed by efforts on their part to find out what he is doing.

The problem is not about exercising independent judgment. In a Republic we send our representative to exercise wisdom, good sense and prudence. In fact, we need representatives who will exercise judgment, independent of political pressure and who will resist the temptation to court the political elite.

The problem is that when a representative lacks the belief that power resides with his constituency he does not merely fail to be their voice, he often hides behind closed doors and practices his art in a way that his constituency has no idea what he is doing or whether he is representing their views. They cannot judge if he is effectively raising their voice because he keeps them purposefully in the dark. When he has an agenda that he hides from his constituents, then he violates our trust.

It is the belief that power rests somewhere other than in the people that constitutes the unstated justification for practicing transactional politics. Our representatives must believe that the power and the authority to govern rests with the people. They must believe that power must be checked, balanced and diffused. They must believe that those who serve are accountable. They must believe that their time in office is temporary.

The people have an absolute right to determine if their voice is being represented, especially in Congress and most especially in the House of Representatives. Every two years our representatives are brought to the bar of accountability.

It is a shallow and empty refrain to suggest, let alone argue, that any representative should pass this bar unchallenged. To suggest that an intraparty challenge is somehow outside the bounds of propriety is to fundamentally misunderstand our process and our history. Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, even Gerald Ford and, of course, Ronald Reagan all participated in intraparty challenges.

No incumbent or party leader would ever publicly argue that an intraparty challenge is wrong. It is not only right, it is the right of the constituency to hear the voice of another to determine which voice they want to be their voice.

Why I am running as a Republican for Congress against a Republican? Republicans control Congress and the Presidency. In 2004, we will continue to control both. This is the time we must send strong Republicans to the U.S. Congress. Doing a pretty good job is not good enough. We need Republicans who will put the brakes on runaway spending, who will move to free us from costly and oppressive regulation, who value choice in education, who understand that the family is the fundamental unit of society, necessary for our national survival.

To paraphrase my favorite, albeit fictional, Democrat, President Jed Bartlett - We need more than .22 caliber men in this .45 caliber world.

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