Independent candidate McMullin sets his sights on the presidency and a new conservative movement
Record ID:
83632
Independent candidate McMullin sets his sights on the presidency and a new conservative movement
- Title: Independent candidate McMullin sets his sights on the presidency and a new conservative movement
- Date: 28th October 2016
- Summary: SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING PAST SALT LAKE TEMPLE, A TEMPLE OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS (MORMONS) BRIGHAM YOUNG MONUMENT PEOPLE WALKING TEMPLE BOUNTIFUL, UTAH, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE EVEN MCMULLIN SPEAKING TO TOWN HALL MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE EVAN MCMULLIN SAYING: "Well that remains to be seen whether we will need to start a new party or not. We know that we can use this movement that we've developed in only two and a half months - it's been very incredible - to be a force for good in our country, either to influence the Republican Party to make changes that it needs to make or if that's not possible then perhaps it will be necessary to start a new party." VARIOUS OF MCMULLIN SPEAKING ON PODIUM LITTLE BOY IN T-SHIRT READING (English) "EVAN MCMULLIN 2016" AUDIENCE LISTENING AS MCMULLIN SPEAKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE EVAN MCMULLIN SAYING: "We're very skeptical that the Republican Party is going to be able to make the changes it needs to make. We're very skeptical that it is going to be able to do a 180 degree turn and go in the opposite direction that it's headed in now. Now it's pursuing a path of populist, a populist path, one that supports the white supremacists, the white nationalist movement, and that's just it runs absolutely counter to what we believe in at the most fundamental level. So constitutional conservatives, if the Republican Party is to go down that road even after the election, constitutional conservatives like Mindy and I will not be able to be a part of it." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BUYING EVAN MCMULLIN T-SHIRTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAURA SAGE, A REGISTERED REPUBLICAN WHO LIVES IN CENTERVILLE, UTAH, SAYING: "I actually don't think he's a Republican. I think he's going to be the face of the next party that comes out of this. Because it is a hybrid and there needs to be somewhere for people to go who, we used to be in the Republican party and they just don't look like us anymore. I mean I was president the College Republicans. So, like, I've been a Republican my whole life and then now you look the party and it doesn't represent me. And I think there's a lot of people that feel that way. And I think he's the face what the new party will be." LAURA SAGE HOLDING LAWN SIGN SUPPORTING MCMULLIN (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAD PATTERSON, A REGISTERED DEMOCRAT WHO LIVES IN CENTERVILLE, UTAH, SAYING: "I definitely think that it is going to give people pause to reflect upon how we're conducting politics. Hopefully, it has an effect whether it starts a third party, I don't know. It could result in that. I hope it gives other parties the opportunity to evaluate their own consciousness and try to figure something out." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ELAYNE WELLS HARMER, A REGISTERED REPUBLICAN WHO LIVES IN BOUNTIFUL, UTAH, SAYING: "Reagan once said that he didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left him. And I feel the same way about the Republican Party. I have voted Republican almost my entire adult life and I refuse to support the candidate that they have put forth because he does not represent my values. So if the Republican Party is going to turn away from Lincoln and Reagan and those values, then I'm not going to support them and I'll support Evan's new movement." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAMES ALLEN, A FIRST-TIME VOTER WHO LIVES IN HUNSTVILLE, UTAH, SAYING: "So I agree with what Mindy said tonight and that is that if the Republican Party does move away from Trump after this election, then I would be open to going back to the Republican Party. However if it's going to continue down this trend of racism and misogyny and, you know, allowing things like what Trump has done and said to be the norm, then I think there needs to be a third party and a new movement to carry the message." MILLCREEK, UTAH, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) BRYAN SCHOTT, MANAGING EDITOR OF UTAHPOLICY.COM, WALKING DOWN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRYAN SCHOTT, MANAGING EDITOR OF UTAHPOLICY.COM, WHO COMMISSION POLLS OF UTAH VOTERS EACH MONTH, SAYING: "We we poll Utah monthly. And there was a second poll that we had with Evan McMullin - the first poll was back in August and September, it sort of straddled the end of those two months, the end of the end of August beginning of September, and around that time was right after Evan McMullin announced and we had him at about eight percent and then we got into the field again right after Donald Trump had made his comments that caused all the furor. And we saw the same thing that a lot of other groups came in and polled, that Evan McMullin had jumped." SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOYD MATHESON, PRESIDENT OF CONSERVATIVE PUBLIC POLICY THINK TANK THE SUTHERLAND INSTITUTE, WORKING AT HIS DESK (SOUNDBITE) (English) BOYD MATHESON, PRESIDENT OF CONSERVATIVE PUBLIC POLICY THINK TANK THE SUTHERLAND INSTITUTE, SAYING "Particularly here in Utah, people are are just tired of the rhetoric, they're not buying into the fear and anger and angst and frustration that both political parties are demonstrating that just doesn't, that's not what leadership looks like in Utah. And I think that will be a message that will actually resonate across the country post- election. And so I think this is really a beginning point for what I think will be either the transformation of the Republican Party or the replacement of the Republican Party." SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 27, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS TOP SHOTS OF SALT LAKE CITY
- Embargoed: 12th November 2016 17:17
- Keywords: president campaign election Evan McMullin Utah conservative third party politics
- Location: SALT LAKE CITY, BOUNTIFUL AND MILLCREEK, UTAH, UNITED STATES
- City: SALT LAKE CITY, BOUNTIFUL AND MILLCREEK, UTAH, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA00155X7RK7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Republican nominee Donald Trump is facing a stiff challenge in Utah from an independent conservative candidate - former CIA operative and Utah native Evan McMullin.
McMullin, 40, is siphoning votes away from Trump in a state that is as Republican as any in the nation. If he wins Utah's six electoral votes, and some polls have him in the lead, he could block Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton from winning the minimum 270 votes needed to become president.
McMullin recognizes that might be a long shot. But even if he doesn't win the presidency on Nov. 8, he hopes his success in Utah will signal the start of a "new conservative movement," separate from the traditional Republican Party, which is in a deep crisis over its struggling nominee.
The turmoil within party ranks worsened after a video from 2005 emerged showing Trump bragging crudely about groping women and making unwanted sexual advances.
Nearly half of all 331 incumbent Republican senators, Congress members and governors condemned Trump's remarks, and roughly one in 10 has called on him to drop out of the race, according to a Reuters review of official statements and local news coverage.
McMullin is not sure the party can reverse the direction he says it has taken since Trump became the nominee. If the party won't change, he says he and his running mate Mindy Finn won't be a part of it.
"We're very skeptical that the Republican Party is going to be able to make the changes it needs to make. We're very skeptical that it is going to be able to do a 180 degree turn and go in the opposite direction that it's headed in now. Now it's pursuing a path of populist, a populist path, one that supports the white supremacists, the white nationalist movement, and that's just - it runs absolutely counter to what we believe in at the most fundamental level. So constitutional conservatives, if the Republican Party is to go down that road even after the election, constitutional conservatives like Mindy and I will not be able to be a part of it," he said.
Whether that means a third force will emerge in U.S. politics' traditional two-party system, McMullin says remains to be seen.
"We know that we can use this movement that we've developed in only two and a half months - it's been very incredible - to be a force for good in our country, either to influence the Republican Party to make changes that it needs to make or if that's not possible then perhaps it will be necessary to start a new party."
At a town hall meeting McMullin and Finn held in Bountiful, Utah, 10 miles (16 km) north of Salt Lake City, hundreds of supporters sat on the floor and crammed in to aisles to hear the speeches. Many were disaffected Republicans, turned off by Trump's bombast and insults.
Laura Sage was president of her College Republicans group, but feels abandoned by her party and was looking to McMullin to lead a new political force.
"I actually don't think he's a Republican. I think he's going to be the face of the next party that comes out of this. Because it is a hybrid and there needs to be somewhere for people to go who, we used to be in the Republican Party and they just don't look like us anymore," she said.
Utah is a state that has voted Republican in presidential races for decades. But it wasn't only those whose politics lean right who turned out to see McMullin and give him their vote.
Brad Patterson is a registered Democrat who says he can't trust Clinton. He's not convinced a third party will emerge after the election, but hopes McMullin's success could open a dialogue about how to emerge from a divisive campaign.
"I definitely think that it is going to give people pause to reflect upon how we're conducting politics. Hopefully, it has an effect. Whether it starts a third party, I don't know. It could result in that. I hope it gives other parties the opportunity to evaluate their own consciousness and try to figure something out," he said.
Boyd Matheson, president of the conservative public policy think tank The Sutherland Institute said by supporting McMullin, Utah is sending a message to Washington, after Nov. 8, that the Republican party needs to be reformed or replaced.
"Here in Utah, people are are just tired of the rhetoric, they're not buying into the fear and anger and angst and frustration that both political parties are demonstrating that just doesn't, that's not what leadership looks like in Utah. And I think that will be a message that will actually resonate across the country post- election. And so I think this is really a beginning point for what I think will be either the transformation of the Republican Party or the replacement of the Republican Party," he said.
McMullin and Finn are on the ballot in a dozen states and a valid write in option in over 30 states, according to their campaign.
The last time a Republican presidential nominee lost in Utah was in the landslide national election victory of President Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, in 1964. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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