Utah, the Sutherland Institute and the non-monolithic conservative movement

by David Safier

It's heartening to see cracks in the Republican Party. John Boehner is having trouble holding his troops together. Some of Arizona's Republican state legislators are beginning to rebel a bit against Pearce's iron-fisted rule. And then there's Utah.

As I posted the other day, Utah passed some less-than-awful immigration legislation with the official blessing of the Mormon Church. I wouldn't call the legislation exactly enlightened, but it echoes the earlier Utah Compact which states the belief that humanity and sanity trump police state enforcement of the laws against illegal immigration.

Yesterday, Markos Moulitsas posted on his Daily Kos, Republicans and immigration: Utah versus Arizona. His conclusions were similar to mine. And he mentioned the Sutherland Institute, a conservative Utah think tank.

So I looked up Sutherland Institute on the web. So far as I can tell, its positions echo most conservative positions on most issues, but it doesn't like Arizona's immigration solutions. How much doesn't it like them? It created a website, notaz.org: "Utah is Not Arizona." It also put out a number of position papers talking sanely about the need for genuine, comprehensive immigration reform. I won't go into the details. You can check them out yourself if you want.

To paraphrase Barry Goldwater, In the Goldwater Institute's Heart, It Knows Sutherland is Right. G.I.'s libertarian bent pushes it toward the pro-immigration, open borders side of the conservative/libertarian spectrum. But G.I. is too damned afraid of the backlash from donors and politicians to speak out. So, while the Sutherland Institute has the courage and convictions to take a strong stand on this hugely important state and national issue, the Goldwater folks are spitting on the legacy of their namesake by keeping quiet on the immigration issue when it should be speaking out loudly and strongly.